Legacy of Sand and Wind
by Gaara-no-Jo
Summary: Temari and Kankurou have been the only family that Sabakuno Gaara has ever known but when they grow up and have families of their own, Gaara is still left to wander as a grain of sand on the wind. Then a demon boy shows up with Gaara's sad eyes...Multipar
1. Chapter 1

Hey, all. I became unsatisfied with the way "The New Genin" was turning out and decided to reevaluate some things. This piece, "Legacy of Sand and Wind" is for all intents and purposes, "Worthless Destiny" but it has been thoroughly scoured over, revised, and edited. Parts were taken out, parts were added, and still some parts were left the same. The biggest and most obvious change, aside from title, is that there are less chapters. All I did was condense the chapters that were short to begin with into longer chapters.

I hope with the changes made in "Legacy…", when I go to re-write "The New Genin" it will be a better story that flows and has less holes. My purpose has always been, and will always be, to write great quality writing; writing the begs to be read and revisited. I'll leave Worthless Destiny up for a week or so if you'd like to retain a copy of the original but in accordance with rules, I'll have to take it down eventually.(Unless you like WD over LoSW then the opposite will occur)! Thank you and enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Goodbye; An End to the Sand Trio. 

Temari held the baby girl in her arms and cooed. "She looks like me! Look at all that blond hair." The baby responded by yawning and shielding her eyes from the light with her fists. Nara Shikamaru wiped his brow and looked down on his wife and new child. They had only been married a year when they were blessed with a baby.

The Nara family estate had been passed to him a few months earlier since he would soon be a father and his parents had moved into a smaller home close by so that they could help with the baby if they needed too. Shikamaru thought that having his mother so close was troublesome but it would be nice to have someone to babysit for them sometimes, Temari reminded him repeatedly.

Kankurou walked up to the bed and patted his brother-in-law heartily on the shoulder. "Good job, Nara. She's beautiful. She does resemble us more though. Look at those eyes!" He waggled his finger in front of her nose. "Gaara, come and see our new niece."

The silent jounin of Sand remained leaned against the wall to watch the event unfold before him. He shook his head without replying and bowed his head. It was not that he didn't feel happy for his sister but rather that he did not feel safe around such a fragile life. It would be better, he thought, to remain distant.

"Geez, Gaara," Kankurou said aloud. He looked down at his niece and gave her a kiss on the hand. "He's an old grouch but don't mind him, he's really happy about getting to see you."

Temari sat up, causing Shikamaru some worry, and held the baby out to Kankurou. "You take her for a while. I feel sore from lying in bed for so long."

Shikamaru held her hand tightly. "Stop trying to rush things. You should still be in bed a while longer." However, he did help her get out of bed. "It'll be troublesome if something should happen to you. My mother would kill me."

His wife only smiled and gave a hearty stretch. "Ah, feels so good." She looked over to Gaara. His eyes were intent on her. He was worried, she could tell. "Oh, I'm going to faint!" She fell over but was supported instantly by a soft cloud of sand. "Gaara, stop kidding around and hold the baby. You won't hurt her." Again, he only shook his head as he righted his sister on her feet.

"Man! Temari," Shikamaru yelled. "Don't scare me like that!" He had his hand over his chest as though he was going to have a heart attack. Gaara pushed off of the wall and took something out of his pouch. I was a small plush teddy bear.

"Congratulations, Mr. And Mrs. Nara…Happy Birthday, Fumi." He left the hospital room with that.

Six Months later, Kankurou was standing in front of a massive crowd of Sunagakure villagers. He was dressed in white robes and was without his usual face paint; instead, he looked nervous. Sweat was beading up on his forehead and cheeks. The speech preceding him seemed to be dragging on for a long time.

Gaara was also in a formal outfit but stayed in the shadows. It had been hard for the elders to decide on whether or not Kankurou could become Kazekage but aside from being unpopular due to no fault of his own, the elders decided to make him the next leader of Sunagakure no Sato. The hope that Kankurou would surpass his father and do a good job as Kazekage was heavy on the young man.

They brought in the Kazekage hat from beyond the stage and Kankurou bowed. The hat was placed on his head and adjusted to look presentable. With that action, the new leader of the village step to the edge of the platform overlooking the crowed of Sunagakure citizens and bowed. There was clapping and some cheering as well.

Kankurou looked over at Gaara and smiled, as if to say "Well, I did it." His brother nodded in acknowledgement. After their exchange, Kankurou began a long speech describing his hopes and dreams for his reign. By the end, everyone seemed impressed and excited. He was a far cry from the cold statue that was his father.

When he looked to see how Gaara reacted, the red-haired jounin was gone but there was no time to go and look for him. The Elders were beckoning him to join in the festivities so that everyone could become more acquainted with their new leader. Kankurou sighed. The news that he would likely become the next Kazekage was a big shock to everyone but he could tell that it bothered Gaara the most by the way the missions they conducted afterwards went. Since Temari left they had to rely on each other more and they became closer because of it. But when the news came, Gaara become more aloof. He didn't make much of an attempt to talk anymore. It was kind of hard but Kankurou couldn't understand that ultimately it meant leaving his little brother behind. It meant leaving him alone.

"Kazekage-sama," spoke an aide bowing deeply. "We should go…"

"…Yeah." Kankurou nodded to the attendant and left the stage.

"Seconds please!" A five years-old Fumi had rice sticking to her face as she held her bowl out to her mother. She had grown a lot. She had a large golden brown ponytail like her father and spiky bangs like her mother. Her bright green-eyes were filled with mischief and intellect.

Shikamaru took her bowl and held it idly in one hand. "You're only supposed to say seconds if you're eating seconds. This is your fourth bowl."

Fumi pouted and gave her father a displeased look. "Man, you're too troublesome, Papa… How do you expect me to become a good ninja if I'm starving?" she muttered. This caught the jounin off guard. When did his little angel become such a sharp tongued brat? She sighed at him and crossed her arms.

There was a knock on the door. Temari had her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. She hadn't got involved in the little spat between her daughter and husband. They were always fighting because they were so much alike. She stood up and opened the door. Standing there in the pouring rain was a Gaara. He was relatively dry thanks to the sand umbrella he had made but he looked cold. It had been a quite a few months since he had last visited but she was used to his random visits. He had no home of his own and wandered around like a grain of sand in the wind.

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Gaara! It's been a while." He hugged her back and she let him in. He dispelled the umbrella into his gourd and put in the cork. Shikamaru waved with a small smile. Fumi was already running over to him. She jumped into his arms.

"Gaara! Did you bring me presents?"

"Oy! What kind of greeting is that?" scolded Shikamaru. She turned around to look at him over here shoulder. "Don't look at me like that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!"

He gave her a warning look. "One yeah will do, thank you," he barked but surprised himself. He found that he was sounding like his mother with every passing day.

Gaara rubbed her head and put her down. "It's fine. I did bring her a gift, she probably just noticed it and got excited." He pulled out a long item wrapped in paper. It was nearly as tall as Fumi herself. When her uncle put it in her hands she found it to be quite heavy.

She looked up at him to be sure that it was okay to open it. Since his expression never changed from one of solemn regard, she quickly began to unwrap it. It was a miniature tessen like the one here mother used. Fumi gasped.

She posed dramatically in the center of the room. "This is the first star…" She unfolded the fan to the first circle and grinned. "When you see the third star…" She paused to give a small chuckle. "It's over."

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"One yeah will do, thank you!" she yelled back at him. They glared at each other. Gaara and Temari looked at each other and sighed. It was an endless battle between Shikamaru and his clone.

Gaara patted Fumi on the head and took a step back. "I'm going now. I have to report back to the Kazekage. I just stopped by on my way back."

Temari looked disappointed but nodded. "I wish you would stay longer, little brother." He shook his head and headed for the door. "At least until the rain stopped?"

He ignored his sister's protests as he always did. "Fumi… I expect you to be able to use that when I see you next.""

"'Kay!" Fumi said with an enthusiastic nod.

"Goodbye." The door closed behind the sand wielder and vessel of the One-Tailed Tanuki demon.


	2. Chapter 2

Second installment of the revised story. How am I doing so far? Any comments? Improvements? Please enjoy this work in progress!

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**Chapter 2: A Special Mission! Gaara, the Mysterious Anbu Girl, and the Demon**

When Gaara arrived at the home of the Kazekage, he immediately avoided the scattered throughout the building and teleported to right outside the door of his office. This caught the two guards by surprise but they did not question the ninja as he opened the door and entered. Kankurou was at his desk reading a scroll that seemed to be boring him greatly.

He looked up and smiled. "Welcome back, little brother," he said as he rolled the scroll up. "Mission went well?" Gaara answered him by putting a scroll on his desk and bowing.

"The mission was successful, Kazekage-sama. There were no casualties and the item in question was returned to the daimyo unharmed. I leave the details to be analyzed at your leisure." He stood up straight again. Kankurou was looking exasperated at the formal way in which Gaara was addressing him. The younger jounin shook his head. "I saw our sister on my way back. She's doing well. Fumi's a little ball of energy. I bought her a tessen."

Kankurou chuckled. "I hope she doesn't give her father any headaches with that thing."

"No more than usual, I'd suspect." Gaara sat on top of his desk. He stared at Kankurou quietly, his face placid and unreadable. It made the older brother and leader a little uncomfortable but that wasn't anything new. He opened his mouth to say something but Gaara cut him off. "No matter how many times I see it, you still look silly with that hat." He reached over and touched the brim with his finger, tilting it down over Kankurou's eyes.

His brother took it off, rubbing his spiky brown hair. "Did you have any problems getting in?" Gaara shook his head no. "None?"

They both stopped and looked towards the curtain. Two small feet were sticking out. Kankurou rubbed his temples and put his head down on the table. It was his son, Mokumaru. The young boy's purpose in life, at the moment, was to defeat his uncle in battle. Whenever Sabaku no Gaara returned to Sunagakure, he would hunt him down and attack him.

While Fumi showed no real interest in any particular style of ninjutsu, Mokumaru decided to follow his father in a way. His weapon of choice was the yo-yo controlled by a string of chakra. He was able to create a weak connection now but he was no where near as adept as his father. Kankurou lamented that he didn't have much time to train him properly, however, he was still inwardly proud that he had a successor in the art.

The sand ever present around Gaara flew and a wooden object imbedded itself in the sand wall. Mokumaru peeked out from behind the curtain. He groaned and crossed his arms. "Ultimate Defense, eh?"

Gaara grabbed the toy from the retreating sand and tossed it back to his nephew. "Something like that."

The boy caught it in one hand. He glared at his uncle intensely for a few minutes before smiling a little. "I'll be the one to break that defense." He ran over and jumped up, being caught by Gaara.

"It's already been broken. A few times, actually," he remarked. "I'd be honored to have you break it again though, Mokumaru." He put the boy down. He wasn't one for being too clingy. He preferred to be more subtle about his affections. Being loving was not something he was used to.

Mokumaru tossed the yo-yo to his father. "Show me again how to do it, Dad. I can't beat Gaara, if you don't teach me." There was a slight whine in his voice. He tried to act older than he was but sometimes his true age shone through. Kankurou sighed and began to play with the yo-yo, shooting it back and forth. Mokumaru's eyes were fixed on it.

"You need more chakra control, Mo-kun. That only comes with practice," the Kazekage replied catching the yo-yo finally in his hand. He tossed it back to Mokumaru. "You just need to keep at it. I can't make it happen for you."

The young boy of seven sighed miserably. "I practice everyday already…." He put the yo-yo in his pocket and climbed onto a pile of pillows by the window. He laid down and watched them with sleepy eyes. "Uncle Gaara, can't you teach me anything?"

Gaara shook his head. "You're not strong enough." Mokumaru responded by groaning and turning over. "If that's all, I'm going now, Kankurou."

Kankurou stood at his seat "But, you just got here? Gaara, if you want a house, I can-"

The man shook his head. A home was not for him. He was too restless. "No. I'm fine."

"Where do you end up going all the damn time anyway?" asked Kankurou. He didn't even attempt to hide the annoyance in his voice. He watched his little brother walk over to Mokumaru to say good-bye but the boy was fast asleep. He patted him on the head. The Sand swirled around Gaara as he disappeared.

He reappeared in the streets with a sigh. Just like before, he felt as though he didn't belong in the family. If he hung around he'd only be the way. Gaara shook his head and decided to get something to eat before he left. While he was walking the streets, a group of shinobi rushed past him. They must have just failed a mission and someone was going to have to clean up.

The door to Kankurou's office burst open as three ninja piled in out of breath. One seemed to very badly wounded and the others weren't much better. They bowed before him, half out of respect and half out of exhaustion. Kankurou stood up confused and walked over to them.

"What the heck? What happened to you guys?"

A ninja with rows of braids looked up with an expression of worry and fear. "We were on a mission north of here. It was pretty simple assassination job so we were coming back. We took a shortcut but that was a big mistake. We got lost in this forest and ran into a gang of soldiers. They said they were a demon army." He clenched his teeth as remembered the fight. "It was totally one sided but somehow we managed to escape."

Kankurou sighed. "This is no the first report I've gotten about this." He pressed a button on his desk. "Send in a medical team. " He almost let go but suddenly remembered something. "Have you seen Gaara? Is he still here?"

"He's still here," grunted one of the other ninjas. "We passed him on our way here."

"Good."

Once more Gaara was standing in front of his brother. He had been contacted by an aide that there was a special mission for him to do. When he entered an Anbu woman was standing there. Her hair was long, brown, and wild and she had a vicious look in her eye. Gaara ignored her for the moment.

Kankurou was sitting on top with his hat resting on the corner of his chair. When he looked up at the sandnin, his expression was more serious than Gaara could ever remember him being. He did not hesitate to begin debriefing them. "There have been reports from a few frightened villages in Kazekuni as well as some recent Sandninja. They say that they're having problems with a demon but so far I can't get confirmation of this so called 'demon'. The ninjas that I have sent to investigate have either not returned or have found nothing. After a recent report, however, I'm moving the rank of this mission from A to S. This is also Anbu territory."

The woman nodded, crossing her arms and giving Gaara a hateful look. "I agree entirely. I am familiar with that region and even when I was young there were tales of demons running around but it seems this is more serious. I suggest I head a team of Anbu to this-" She was cut off as Kankurou raised his hand to stop her.

"Gaara will head the attack. This mission is perfect for him," Kankurou stated firmly. Gaara did not flinch the entire time that they spoke.

"But he's a demon himself! How can we be sure that he won't join the enemy side for power?" she exclaimed, motioning to the red haired jounin.

Kankurou stood up, gritting his teeth. "Gaara is not a demon! It may be true that sealed inside of him is a creature of great power but Gaara himself is a man of extreme honor. I won't have you insult the best ninja we have in this village." He looked over to his brother that still looked straightforward, unblinkingly. "He should have become Kazekage but because of people like you that hold that incorrect opinion towards him…"

Gaara finally spoke. "Please continue with information about the mission. We don't have time to waste on unimportant things."

The Anbu woman growled and clenched her fists. She looked away from him in order to hide her anger towards him and her disgust. Kankurou also turned away from the woman in order to accomplish the same thing.

"Gaara, I know that you are the best ninja in our village and I wouldn't ask you to do this if I weren't in desperate need but would you become one of the Anbu for this mission?" The woman sucked in air. "I need you to do this…"

The jounin of Sand looked at his brother and nodded. "I don't plan to stay one permanently but I understand that it would look better to the villagers if I were part of the Anbu. Don't worry about me."

Kankurou smiled, a weight suddenly off of his shoulders, which were growing heavier and heavier these days. "Thank you, Sabakuno Gaara."

The younger brother did a rare thing and smiled. He looked towards the still angry woman. "And her?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm your subordinate, puppy," she spat angrily. "I'm older than you and I've probably seen more battles than you have hairs on your head. I will not be condescended by you."

The Kazekage rolled his eyes and thrust the mission papers at Gaara. "She will be back up for you. I trust that your talent will be all that's necessary in case that thing is a real demon," Kankurou responded ignoring the brief tirade. "Her name is Kirae, by the way. Please tolerate her."

Gaara nodded and began to leave. Kirae grabbed him on the wrist as he passed but the look he gave here could have frozen boiling water in an instant. She let go and drew back slightly. She looked back to the Kazekage with uncertainty. He had the same eyes as his brother but his seemed colder and emptier as they glared at her. She was all alone in this battle. Gaara was the captain and she would have to follow his command.

Mokumaru found his uncle packing items in his satchel outside of the main hall. He could tell that his uncle was in no mood to be attacked so he simply sat on the short wall where he was standing. He cupped his small chin in his palms and watched silently. He didn't know what the mission was going to be but Gaara had changed his clothes to look like one of the elite ninja that he had heard about in books with the addition of his gourd. All the more reason to admire Gaara, he thought to himself.

After he put in the final item into the bag, Gaara looked up at his nephew. The boy closed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something sage but found a sucker there instead. When he opened his eyes again, Gaara was gone and so was his bag. He was a little disappointed that he didn't get to say good-bye properly but apparently that was usual for family members of the legenday Shukaku Vessel. He came and went like the wind; always unexpectedly.

Gaara met with Kirae outside of the village. The elite ninja could not bring herself to meet his stony gaze and she simply started walking. Her new partner simply followed her silently, arms crossed. Back at the home of the Kazekage, Mokumaru walked into his father's office. His mother patted him on the head and walked out with a plate of food. He ran over to Kankurou, who was looking out the window, and stared out with him.

"Is that Uncle Gaara?" He pointed to the main gate. He couldn't see anything but he wondered if his father could. At any rate, he would be praised for having a good eye, whether or not that was true.

However, Kankurou did not answer. He just stared out as the golden sun began to set beneath the red and amber sky. In his heart, he hoped that there would be nothing dangerous for his brother and Kirae to face but something in the pit of his stomach would not let him relax.

Gaara and Kirae settled down in the forest after day of travel. Not one civil word had been spoken between them until finally they decided to stop talking all together. She would glare hatefully at him, hoping to crack his solemn exterior but he remained stoic and ignored her. Sometimes she would make a snide comment to herself loud enough for him to hear but he wouldn't even blink.

Gaara created a fire and immediately went to go for a walk. However, the Anbu woman grabbed his hand. When he looked down at her she swallowed hard but did not let go.

"Why don't you ever get angry when I say those things about you?" she asked bluntly.

Gaara gently took his hand back and crossed his arms. "Because, you aren't saying anything that I haven't heard before. I grew up with those hateful words being spat in my direction but I'm far older and they don't hold the same sting as they used to. Besides, they aren't true so why should I care about what you say?" He walked away before she had time to respond. She scrambled to stand up and follow him but a hand made of sand held her in place. "You have to watch the fire, in case it draws too much attention. "

She watched after him and punched the ground after he had left. The things that he did irritated her for some reason. He managed to act above her without doing much of anything. He ignored her actions and words as if they did not exist but showed no animosity towards her. She could not get him to acknowledge her. That's why she hated him. He would not acknowledge her and that is why she was filled with unquenchable curiosity for him. Perhaps he thought her weak and that is why he treated her so poorly. Soon she could show him her prowess and worth in battle. He would then be forced to treat her as an equal or superior.

It unsettled her that that he did not sleep when she clearly needed too. Later that night she had told him that since he didn't sleep that she would not either but he coolly reminded her that if they were going to battle a demon and its minions than even the slightest sleep depravation could cost her her life. She slept uneasily but when she awoke he was waiting calmly by a tree for her.

The two investigated every rumor and town they came across as they neared the town but they did not encounter much in the way of information about the demon other than reports that it was amassing an army of vagabonds and otherwise displaced members of society. It seemed that it offered a lot of money so the possibility that it was an actual demon decreased dramatically. It was likely a gang lord trying to make a name for himself and disrupt the peace of the Country of Wind. Secretly, Gaara hopped that that was all it was.

When they arrived at the village that had filed the complaint, the mayor of the village, very old and thin as a rail, clamored up to greet them. "Thank god you've come! Things are getting worse." He claimed that 5 other villages were having the same concerns. By the look of the crumbling buildings and the dirty clothes of the villagers that crowded around them, Gaare agreed that they wouldn't have had the money to pay for the mission on their own.

"Some of the young men from our village have left and it's hard on the older farmers that rely on the young bodies to help pull in the harvest," he explained. "We hear things in the forest; evil things. And sometimes we've seen things as well: unexplained eyes, wisps of white, nothing that we have ever seen before but they are continuing to get worst. It's so bad that the hunters won't even go into the forests anymore. We're all terrified."

Kirae smiled sweetly. "Don't worry. We are the best that Sunagakure has to offer. We will find the source of this problem and eliminate it." She turned to Gaara, wearing the same smile. "Won't we?" Gaara nodded.

"Whatever you hear, stay inside. I don't want preventable casualties. We will inform you of when it is safe to come out or when to evacuate. Just be ready." He turned and headed toward the forest. Kirae bowed to the mayor and followed her companion.

They weren't too far into the forest when it seemed to become unnaturally dark for that time of the day. It was also very cold and danger seemed to emanate from every shadow. "Genjutsu?" Kirae whispered to Gaara. He made a noise that neither confirmed her suspicion nor denied it. She immediately drew her kunai as they advanced. They traveled for what seemed like hours but never could tell how close they were to the heart of the forest.

No enemies were encountered but there was definitely something going on. Gaara stopped and tried to channel his chakra to find the source of the spell but the forest was so oppressive in its power he could not sense anything out of the ordinary. This must be why the ninja could do nothing to find the enemy lair. However, criminals did not suspect that they would be going up against Sabaku no Gaara.

He held out his hand and held two fingers to his eye. Sand swirled around his upheld hand. Kirae gasped as three brown eyes were created. They looked from here to there, their alien gaze darting all around. "The connection has been made." The eyes flew off in opposite directions.

"Now what?" She asked.

Gaara sat down on the ground, closing his other eye. "We wait." She sat beside him, closely. He didn't move. She didn't press her luck.

The eyes darted all over the forest searching. For the most part it was the same in all regions of the forest; unnatural darkness and silence dominated. Yet, Gaara was able to find an area that looked promising. It was not as dark and there was a large cave. Outside of it, there dozens of humans milling about what looked to be an encampment. He marked the location in his mind and dispelled the jutsu, returning sight to his right eye.

He stood up unexpectedly and Kirae, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder, fell over to the ground. She stood up rapidly, rubbing her eyes. "Have you found something?"

Gaara nodded and pointed west. "The enemy seems to be in that direction." He looked at her half-asleep face and sighed deeply. Kirae found a canteen being shoved at her. "Wake up. We're heading into battle."

She scowled but drank some of the cool water. "I know. I know. But it's boring to just wait like that in a dark place." She smacked her cheeks lightly. "Ready."

As they headed towards their enemies, Gaara realized that perhaps the villagers were not too far off from their prediction that the strange occurrences were related to some kind of demon. The darkness was not natural nor was it any kind of normal genjustu created by man. To consume an entire forest in darkness would consume too much chakra for one person or even a legion of genjutsu specialists to maintain for more than a short period of time. Perhaps only a day or so at max but this continued for weeks, they heard, without abating.

The two Anbu soon heard the familiar sounds of people. They crept closer and closer to the source of the noise and saw at least one hundred men assembled around the cave entrance. Indeed as the reports stated, the men looked like strays and ne'er-do-wells.

Gaara put on his Anbu masked which resembled a tanuki. He scoffed at first at the choice but didn't complain. Kirae's was a wolf mask. The looked at each other for confirmation to proceed and then jumped down into the middle of the party. The men all looked up in shocked. Some of them whispered the word 'ninja' or 'assassin' but a large man stood up and laughed in challenge.

"You must think that you two are pretty bad ass to just jump in the middle of 139 men. Even if you are ninja, those odds ain't too good," he said, licking the edge of a wicked blade. His threat garnered some laughter.

Kirae chuckled. "You're right, the odds don't look very good. For you, that is. We are elite ninja from Sunagakure no Sato. By order of the Kazekage and the daimyo of this region we are demanding that his illegal army disband immediately or suffer the consequences." She sliced the air with her hand for emphasis. Gaara remained still with his arms closed over his chest.

Some of the men had fearful looks in their eyes but the majority remained confident in the power of their numbers. Kirae growled. "I don't think a warning will work, Gaara," she whispered to him, showing some concern. "Perhaps if we neutralized their leader we could acquire more leverage."

Gaara looked at the big man. He had many cuts all over his body from countless battles. To anyone off the street he was a force to be avoided, however Gaara was not a common thug. "I suggest those of you with brains do the smart thing and return to your villages. Life may be hard and you may not be wealthy but you at least have a greater opportunity of saving your worthless lives," he calmly stated.

The big man laughed but it was cut short as sand snaked up his leg. "Huh! What the hell is this!" He struggled against the sand but he was held fast by Gaara's ninjutsu. Kirae took a step back- it was the first time that she had encountered the legendary Sand Ninja's fury first hand. Gaara raised his hand as the sand lifted the man easily off the ground. "Sabaku Sousou!" As Gaara's fingers clenched shut, the sand imploded, killing the foolish rebel immediately. The blood rained down on the field. At least 30 men ran for cover into the forest but the rest remained fixed out of terror or determination. "Mmm…I was hoping to cut the numbers by half but that was better than nothing," he mused without humor.

Kirae pulled out a sword from behind her. "I can't let you have all the fun. Kya!" She took off before Gaara could stop her and dashed through the crowd. Her speed was impressive. It was not nearly up to Konoha's Rock Lee but it was still nothing to be sneezed at. Twenty men fell to Kirae's blade before she sheathed it. 20 more men ran. "That's about half, wouldn't you say, Gaara?"

Suddenly the ground started to shake. Kirae fell to all fours looking at the cave. Gaara was taken by surprised but maintained his balance. The ragtag army pulled away from the mouth of the cavern looking fearful.

"Kirae?" a deep, booming voice chuckled. Kirae flinched. "It has been a long time, hasn't it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews so far!

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Chapter 3: The Fierce Battle among Demons.

The woman ran her fingers through her wild brown hair as she stood up. "Not long enough I suppose." A long muzzle emerged from the cave. The teeth that lined the muzzle were larger than swords and just as deadly. A paw emerged and crushed five men to slow to escape beneath it. The top of the cave began to collapse as a large head chipped away at the rock.

Gaara was surprised and inwardly was glad his mask hid his expression, but he held his ground regardless of the impossible thing emerging in front of him. Expectedly, most of the men fled to the forest behind him. They feared the wolf demon but served him out of greed. On the large ears of the demon were gold earrings the size of wagon wheels. On his leg there were more gold bracelets. He had an ornate collar with skulls and jewels imbedded into it. The demon was certainly one of profit it seemed. Gaara noticed that the wolf had three pairs of red eyes, the ones in the middle was large but above and below that the smaller eyes were barely open but he could see the liquid black pupils darting back and forth independently of each other. The middle eye was fixed on the Anbu.

There was another laugh from the demon's throat. Kirae and the other remaining humans could feel the vibrations rise from the ground and shake their courage. Gaara however was already assessing what he would need to do. The demon wolf was nearly as big at the Shukaku in full form yet…The Shukaku was powerful but slow. A few hits from the sand demon's renkuudan would probably finish him but that is only if they hit. Also, he would need someone to wake him once and if he defeated the large demon. The last thing they needed as to kill one demon and have another running amok, just as dangerous as the last. The situation was beginning to look like a job for a Kazekage.

_He should have become Kazekage but because of people like you that hold that incorrect opinion towards him…_ Gaara remembered his brother's words. He took a deep breath and looked around.

He saw Kirae standing a few yards from the cavern opening. She would have to do it. But... He looked back toward the village. Just the battle between the two demons could have a large effect on the surrounding area. It looked like the villages had suffered enough, he didn't want to add to their misery. Someone would need to tell the villagers to evacuate. Damn! There was not enough time or man power to execute all that was necessary. Why did Kankurou have to hold so much faith in him. It wasn't the first time that his brother had overestimated his power but, like a fool, Gaara never let him know when he had reached his limit.

The sand ninja turned Anbu grabbed one of the terrified humans hunkered behind a tree. "You." The man whimpered, his eyes wide with terror. His gaze darted between the emerging demon and Gaara. "You will go to the villages and warn them about the danger. Tell them to evacuate."

He let the man go but the worthless lump of flesh covered his head and cowered in the shadows. Gaara growled. He turned to the gigantic wolf. It was half way out by now. The claws were massive. It would have been nice to have someone with a summoning jutsu. He looked again at Kirae. She was standing there calmly, waiting for the wolf to come out completely.

How could she be so calm? wondered the Sandnin. He growled and ran over to her. She tilted her head to look at him. He stopped. For a moment he wasn't sure who or what was standing in front of him. Her expression was indescribably expectant. She smirked as she said, "You have to go to the village and warn the villagers that they could be in danger. I will hold him off until you can return."

Kirae turned back to look at the demon. Gaara could feel his heart pumping his now boiling blood. How could she be so insubordinate at a time like this? " Kirae!" he yelled more forcefully. "Go back to the villages! I am your captain on this mission. You have to obey me!"

"Obey?" asked the demon. When he looked up, Gaara's green eyes went wide with slight fear and amazement. The demon's three sets of red eyes, all lined up on his skull, had settled on them with a gaze of unwavering bloodlust. Looking at those eyes made Gaara want to run away. They filled him with fear but he remained steadfast in his position. "When did you ever 'obey' anyone, Kirae?" The voice of the demon boomed across the landscape. Birds scattered around them.

The Anbu woman did not move. "I don't obey anyone but myself. I live by no one's rules but my own."

_How does he know her,_ Gaara wondered. "Kirae…" The situation had changed. The kunoichi had expressed concerns that Gaara would be influenced by the Shukaku and side with the demon. Now it seemed the it was not Kirae that should be concerned about traitors. She would have to be eliminated.

Sand started to creep towards the kunoichi but she disappeared and was suddenly behind Gaara. His enemies had increased and this was troublesome. Even if he went full Shukaku, Kirae could wake him at anytime and prematurely end the battle. Then he would not have enough chakra to continue fighting. The mission would be a failure and the catastrophe of Konoha and the Nine Tailed Demon Fox would be destined to repeat. He would need to destroy the traitor first he realized but he doubted the wolf would simply allow his ally to be squashed. More problems were piling up. He felt the something cold on his neck.

"It's not what you think, Gaara," came the voice from behind him. Kirae put away her kunai and lifted her mask. "That is not a lie. You have to believe me."

"I don't know what to believe," he replied coolly. "The demon knows your name…" There was silence. Cool green eyes narrowed then turned to regard the demon.

The beast laughed and looked down at them, swishing his two tails. "I was growing weary of these weak creatures. I was going to eat them after I acquired what I desired but I think that this will be more interesting." He tilted his head. "Is this your new toy? I hope he lasts longer than the last one." He ended his comment in a laugh.

Kirae snarled at this. Her whole body was shaking. Gaara still was not sure what to do. The wolf opened his exaggerated maw and tried to bite them. However, both of the Anbu were quick and the demon found his mouth full of only dirt.

"Dairouchimimaru!" Kirae called out. "Return to hell!"

"Is that a command?" asked the wolf. "I suppose then that we're both disobedient!"

The Anbu gave out a battle cry and rushed him. She quickly dodged his paw and jumped on the arm running up. In one single motion she pulled out her sword and slashed at the demon wolf. He snapped at her but again she took to the air and came down on his muzzle while stabbing him. This caused Dairouchimimaru to swing his head to dislodge her.

She landed by Gaara but returned to battle immediately. This time she tossed out a hand full of shuriken and hit him in the chest. She rolled out of the way and the shuriken carrying tags with seals on them exploded. The wolf tossed his head back and stumbled into a sitting position. She panted and grinned.

"I'm not the same person that you knew before…," she hissed.

"No…" He lunged forward so abruptly she barely had time to get out of the way. "You're weaker!" He swished his tails at them causing spiraling clouds of dust and debris. Both ninja threw up their arms which made an opening for the wolf. A massive paw hit them but Gaara quickly grabbed Kirae and landed with her on the sand softened ground.

Kirae and Gaara dodge another bite from the over sized dog. The kunoichi threw several kunai and shuriken at Dairouchimimaru but they only succeeded in getting tangled in his fur of his chest. There was only one thing that could be done but still Gaara hesitated to do so. His trust for his partner was not complete. He did not want to unleash the Shukaku until he was certain that he would be woken by someone.

"I am bored by you." The wolf began to walk towards the villages, shaking the ground. Trees fell and the ground shattered under his weight. The tails of the beasts caused small tornadoes all around. If this was the power of Dairouchimaru, Gaara was certain that he didn't want to know what power of the nine-tail fox demon was in comparison.

He looked around and found himself alone. The Anbu woman had fled, it seemed. He didn't understand her relationship with the beast but it was enough to send her packing. Gaara dodged a paw and was backed into a tornado that tossed him against a tree. The sand cushioned the blow again but for a moment the shinobi was dazed. It was getting bad. The Kazekage, no, his brother had entrusted him with the responsibility of eliminating this before it became another Konoha disaster. Kirae or no Kirae…he would have unleash the Shukaku.

He formed the necessary seals with his hands, when Kirae showed up beside him. "What are you doing here?"

"I warned the villagers to evacuate…," she stated a matter-of-factly. Gaara was in disbelief."You ordered me to, Captain."

"Impossible. But how did you-," She gave him a look that begged him not to ask. He nodded. "Then I have a very special order. I am going to unleash the Shukaku." She gasped. "Your duty is to buy me time and to wake me when Dairouchimimaru is defeated. Can you do that?"

Kirae nodded slowly but took his hand. "How should I wake you?"

"Hit me," he answered simply. "Anyway you can."

After letting him go, she moved in front as another tornado came their way but was able to defend with a wall of earth to absorb the attack. "I will buy you time, Gaara-sama," she said with an icy tone. She performed a series of hand seals. "Release Form!" Before his eyes, Gaara saw the woman began to change. Brown and black fur grew from her body. Her eyes turned yellow and wild. Claws came from where carefully manicured fingernails used to be.

"A wolf…,"whispered a still remaining thief in awe. A paw was going to swipe at them but again a block of earth intercepted catching the blow. Kirae was now almost completely unrecognizable as a human being but she continued to grow. Suddenly, Gaara realized that Kirae was never human to begin with. She was an oni, just like Dairouchimimaru was. The feral look in her eye and even the way her presence unsettled something inside of him.

Gaara took a good look around, frantically searching for answers. There were many people still lingering for whatever reason but it was far to dangerous for them to remain, criminals or not. "EVERYONE RUN IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES!" He pointed towards the villages. His voice must have sounded more vicious than he thought for it was enough to snap everyone out of their stupor and flee.

Kirae jumped into the air, a two tailed wolf oni and landed with a resounding boom. She was nowhere near Dairouchimimaru's size; perhaps only half but her speed left Gaara without words. She cut through the forest, felling trees and tossing up earth, like a bolt of lightening. In a flash she was on the back of the larger wolf, snarling. Gaara couldn't keep up with her movements at all.

He realized that he didn't have time to gawk at the battle between the two demons and began to perform the seals to release Shukaku. "Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu." Gaara slumped over and fell to his knees no long conscious. Inside, the tanuki demon screamed in triumph and rushed to take over his vessel's body. The sand swirled around the young man consuming him like a flower closing its petals.

Dairouchimimaru slung Kirae off of his back with his long tail. She spun in the air but landed on her feet. As soon as her claws hit the ground she was off like an arrow again repeatedly scratching and biting the larger demon. Indeed, Dairouchimimaru was too big to retaliate at her speed but he did manage a few hits when she lingered too long in one spot.

The demon was growing increasingly more annoyed. "Kirae! I will kill you and devour your body." He tried to bite her but there was only air. "KIRAEEEE!" He swung his massive head to and fro trying to locate her.

But the female wolf appeared in front of him panting. A canine smile spread across her snout. She was enjoying herself. Her own blood and the blood of Dairouchimimaru mingled all over her fur. Her eyes were filled with feral hatred and lust for battle.

There was a large crash of trees behind the giant wolf demon prompting him to turn his head. All six of his eyes widened as he saw a large sand tanuki stand before him. It gave a feral yell before fixing its gaze on him. "Shukaku…but-" He turned back to Kirae and was met with her fangs being buried into his muzzle. He roared and shook his head trying to free himself.

The she-wolf held on with everything that she had but eventually he succeeded sending her flying across the landscape. Kirae's body slid across the ground taking whatever was in her way with her, mostly trees that became small needles that stabbed her in the side. Kirae winced at the pain but noted that the Shukaku seemed to be ready for battle.

Gaara asleep on the Shukaku's forehead was slumped over and oblivious to the battle ensuing before them. "Finally! I'm free! This time I'll stay out for longer," exclaimed the Shukaku victoriously. He looked before him and saw Dairouchimimaru. "Aah, you. the worthless dog demon."

"The same to you. Heh." They two large beast faced each other and stared into the other's eyes waiting for an opening, a flinch, or even a hesitant breath. Just one sign of weakness could turn the tides of this war.

"Shall we, old friend?" asked the Shukaku, resting a massive paw on his stomach. "We have a score to settle."

Dairouchimimaru crouched down growling, the fur on his spine raised. "Then let us settle this once and for all… DESERT INSECT!" He lunged for Shukaku but the sand demon hit his stomach expelling a large ball of wind and chakra. Dairouchimimaru took the full hit and was sent flying like he had done to Kirae. Though he was slow in his previous battle, in this situation speed was his all. The giant wolf was quick to get up and disappeared from view. He appeared behind the Shukaku and grabbed his tail in his mouth.

The sand demon screeched and turned to face the wolf. The twin tails thrashed wildly and sent tornados cutting through the ground and into the Shukaku. When the tanuki demon thrashed it ripped off part of the tail that Dairouchimimaru was holding. The wolf chuckled deep in his throat, holding the piece of tail like a prize.

"Your no match for me, old friend," he spit out the tail, sand still dripping from between his fangs. "I will enjoy killing you and pissing on your remains. I fitting tribute to a piece of shit like you."

Kirae simply watched. Shukaku was terribly powerful but he was no match for Dairouchimimaru's speed and agility. She would have to slow the large wolf down if there was any chance at success. She dashed forward and slid under Dairouchimimaru and bit him in the stomach. He reared up and exposed himself further. Shukaku took the chance and hit them both indiscriminately with a renkuudan.

The Shukaku laughed into the sky. He began to advance towards the two fallen wolves but Dairouchimimaru was still able to move. He struggled to get to his feet and glare at his enemy. Blood seeped from his mouth and stomach. The bitch, Kirae had interfered for a final time, he decided. He gave a look to her limp body some distance away and howled.

Four powerful legs launched him into the air as he aimed his body for the smaller wolf before him a column of sand took his foot and snatched him back to the ground. "Don't forget that I am your target!" warned the Shukaku annoyed. "I'm still not done kicking your ass yet." He opened his mouth to create another attack but the wolf would have none of it.

Dairouchimimaru reared around and gnawed off his foot then dashed away from the attack. He panted heavily, lifting his injured hind leg. "I won't be defeated by a fat slug such as yourself, Shukaku!" He rushed the tanuki and tackled him with all of his strength, they both fell to the ground but Dairouchimimaru was on top of the battle and began ripping and tearing at the soft sandy body of the Shukaku.

In the distance, Kirae tried to force her body to respond. The attack of Gaara's demon was the strongest that she had ever felt. She could hardly believe that one human man was able to contain it. She opened her eyes to see Dairouchimimaru bleeding yet still fighting fiercely. There was only one chance to end it, she realized. Somehow she found the energy to stand. "Earth Elemental…" she rasped but coughed up some blood. "Earth Shackle Technique!" She planted her feet firmly and the ground rose up as it cut a path towards the large wolf.

Dairouchimimaru looked back when heard the sound of crumbling earth and saw Kirae panting and sitting in the distance. He tried to jump away but he was so intent on destroying his opponent that he didn't notice that the Shukaku was holding him with his pliable body. The earth spiked up and held fast each of Dairouchimimaru's leg. He began to panic and struggle against his shackles. The Shukaku slid from underneath him and put his claws around the wolf's muzzled.

"It's over…" he reared his other arm back and stabbed the large wolf through the chest, killing him. The blood dripped all over his hand and some sprayed on his chest and face. A low chuckle became a raucous laugh and pulled his hand out and stabbed the wolf over and over again. "Yes, sweet blood! More! I want more!"

The kunoichi demon stared at the slaughter with morbid fascination and curiosity. He was pummeling a dead body, spraying the landscape with demon's blood. But if it kept up then there wouldn't be much left and he would turn his direction towards something else. She was the closest thing alive. It was time to wake Gaara.

She bounded towards the bloodfest and pounced on the back of the demon corpse. The Shukaku was absorbed in his killing and at first did not notice her. When he did she was again the human kunoichi. She replaced her mask sped towards Gaara. The sand tried to stop her but she was too fast to be caught. She jumped to land on the Shukaku's head and immediately sank on foot knee deep into the sand. A trap.

A yellow eye rolled up to look at her. She pulled out a kunai and tossed to towards Gaara's arm but the sand blocked it. "Troublesome girl. Irritating bug! Your blood smells so delicious," gurgled the Shukaku. A bloody paw began to rise to pick her up. The sand was solidified around her leg and she couldn't move it. She had to wake Gaara. "I won't let you take my freedom. I'll kill you first!"

Kirae pulled perform a few hand seals and crumbled into rocks on the tanuki demon's snout. He snarled and tried to grab her before she disappeared but his movements were too slow. She reappeared in the air about Gaara. "WAKE UP!" She was falling towards him. A spike of sand shot out to claim her life but she twisted in the air and dodged it. Another one came at her but she repeated the technique. She was only a few feet about Gaara when the sand formed a shell to cover him. Kirae cursed when she landed beside the shell. A ring of earth was trying to keep the sand at bay, leaving a whole large enough for her arm. She reached in and grabbed his shoulder and dug her nails into his skin. "Wake up, Gaara!"

The pain from her nails, made him open his eyes. Below them the Shukaku screamed and thrashed. "Not again! Dammit! I still want to have some fun! No!" The sand began to retreat and Kirae was able to grab Gaara. He kept his eyes closed but by his labored breathing she could tell that he was fully awake.

"We did it," she declared. Gaara put his arms around her shoulder and nodded. She carried him down to the ground and rested with him against a tree.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Troubled Relations.

Gaara lied there looking up at the sky, exhausted. He looked at the woman hovering over him. Her expression was that of a curious puppy that was concerned with her master. "What are you exactly?" he managed to ask between breaths.

She pushed a few stray locks of brown hair behind her ear and looked away. "I am rou-yasha. This forest is actually home to many spirit creatures but I am of the wolf clan. Dairouchimimaru was my father. When I was just a young cub, I … left the forest to be with people." She stood up and looked towards the bloody wolf still being held up by the pillars of stone. "So…that's the truth."

"I see." Gaara closed his eyes. Kirae took some bandages from her pouch and began to tie them around her arm. They both remained silent for sometime, allowing Gaara to lose himself to his thoughts while his body tried to recover from the exhausting fight.

_Kankurou landed in front of the group of Grass Ninja. He held Karasu in one hand, still wrapped tightly in bandages. Gaara landed behind the group. The bewildered eight jounin of the rival country looked cornered. _

_It seemed that the intelligence was correct. They were spies. The information that they had acquired the nine months that they stayed in Sunagakure no Sato was vital. They absolutely could not let them get away. It had been Kankurou's idea to allow him and Gaara to pursue the enemy. He assured the reigning Kazekage that with his brother's help, they alone could eliminate the enemy quickly and efficiently. At first the younger man wanted to have some kind of extra help. At least a medical ninja but Kankurou would not be swayed._

"_Gaara, the more people we put on missions the more put the village at risk. We're already at capacity for missions. This is something that I know we can do," he assured the red-haired shinobi. "Besides, I have faith that you can pull this off. Of course, I'll be there with you every step of the way."_

_There was an audible sigh. Gaara looked at the mission scroll in his hand. "All I'm saying is that what if we can't do it alone? You'll be in danger and-" A heavy hand clasped his shoulder._

"_We've been in tougher situations. I have all the faith in your abilities, even if you don't," Kankurou replied warmly. "I trust you with my life. I mean as many times as you've threatened to kill me in the past you've saved me."_

_It was settled then. Gaara couldn't and didn't want to argue any further. He would just have to try his hardest to ensure that the mission was not a failure but eight men? He rubbed his eyes and stood up. "I'm going to get ready. Make sure you have a lot of rest and eat well. I want you at a hundred percent tomorrow."_

_Kankurou gave a salute and smile. Gaara walked to the library and found a nice corner to sit in. He stared at the mission scroll before unrolling it and reading up on his opponents. Every last one of them was jounin. They had seen more missions than the two remained Sand Siblings and at least two were former Anbu. He groaned and rolled up the scroll._

"_We're in deep-"_

"_SHIT!" Kankurou exclaimed as a flurry of needles passed by them. "They don't play nice."_

_Gaara uncrossed his arms. "Neither do we." He closed his hands in a seal and made the ground quicksand beneath the Grass ninjas. All but one escaped to the air before he could grab them tightly. The one that hesitated soon found his life flashing before his eyes as he rapidly sank into the ground. _

_The leader of the spy team created a seal himself and the grass beneath the Sand teams feet began to act like glue. Kankurou tried to move his feet but the Grass held on to him not matter how moved. Their enemy was highly skilled in ninjutsu. It would be a hard battle. _

_Gaara hissed and tried to impale the leader on a spike of sand but the Grassnin simply dodged easily and landed some distance away._

"_Afraid yet, sand dogs?" he mocked. "Sending two low level ninjas such as yourself after us. It's an insult!"_

_Kankurou sneered. "Having Grass scum in my village is a bigger insult. A better name for your village would be 'weed'. Tch. Nothing but an annoyance."_

_A female among the group grabbed a kunai from her pouch and threw it at the immobilized puppet ninja. He took it full in the arm. Gaara looked at him, though his expression did not change from apathy. Kankurou took a hold of it; blood seeping between his fingers then pulled it out._

"_Is that all you've got?"_

_The leader of the Grass ninja made a motion for three of his men to attack. They ran forward weapons drawn but suddenly the two ninja's on the side fell to the ground. When they looked back to their feet the saw two hands holding onto their ankles Sand spikes erupted from the ground impaling the ninjas. However, one turned into a straw double and the other simply disappeared into a pile of grass._

_The owners of the disembodied hands were none other than Karasu, Kankurou's primary puppet and his newest addition Kurokumo. The latter looked like a ballerina in black with the wild black hair typical of Kankurou's puppets._

"_Are those your toys that we've heard so much about," said one of the grass ninja. He wore bandages across his chest and arms. In one of his hands, he held on tightly to a scroll. "It's all right here. If you don't want your secrets to get out, why don't you try and kill me?"_

_Kankurou smiled and twitched his fingers. "Keep them off of me, bro." Gaara nodded and began his assault on the uninvolved adversaries. Kankurou sent in Karasu first._

_The Grass ninja performed the hand seal for dog. "Ka-ton! Wind Spear." He opened his hands and a spike of wind came out. Kankurou flattened Karasu on the ground and the spear shot passed him. A tree behind the sand ninja fell over as the wind spear impaled it. _

_The hooded sand ninja gave out a whistle. He twitched his hands and Karasu flew forward. The grassnin blocked and held the puppet at bay, staring into his empty eyes. "Is this all that you have?" he grunted pushing the puppet back. "I'm still not impressed."_

_Karasu's mouth opened up and sprayed a green liquid at the man's face. Instantly, the sound of sizzling skin and his screams filled the air. The sand ninja clawed at his face trying to wipe away the acid. When he tried to open his eyes, he saw Kankurou standing in front of him. " A-!" There was no time to respond as he was punched in the jaw._

_Gaara was busy frantically trying to defend from six ninja single handedly. If there were all intent on attack him alone, it would not have been so difficult but instead they were trying to attack Kankurou as well. _

_He created a sand clone to hold on of the grass nins reducing his load by one. Two of the others came at him while a third used ninjutsu to create a cloud of grass that obstructed Gaara's vision. _

_Kankurou's sent in Kurokumo after the fallen and now blinded grass ninja. The fallen man got to his knees just in time to see the ballerina dancing around him. He watched as best he could to try to discern what the next attack would be but as he looked on he felt himself feeling soothed instead. He shook his head harshly. Genjutsu. The purpose was to lure him into false sleep. The man rose to his feet and watched the ballerina through one eye. He would be ready for her attack but suddenly the doll stopped and slumped over like a music box toy._

_The puppet ninja snapped his hands back. The Grass ninja found his entire body immobilized by strings. The purpose of the deadly dance was to make him watch for an attack that did not exist. The entire time she was laying a trap. The strings tightened. He gave the ballerina marionette a filthy look. It seemed to shake with laughter as she straightened up. "Requiem for a Fly!" he hissed and pulled the strings taught, there was hardly a scream as blood rained from the man who was now in pieces._

"_KANKUROU!" Gaara called out from behind him. Through the grass he saw just in time the rain of needles aimed at his back. Though he sent the sand to cover him he was not in time. Kankurou fell to the ground, seemingly hundreds of needles sticking out from his flesh. _

_The ninja that attacked picked up the scroll that Kankurou had acquired from his opponent. She laughed and kicked his body. "Is the power of Sand?" she scoffed._

"_No…" Gaara hissed shaking. A wave of sand burst out from him dispelling the blinding ninjutsu. "This is." Simultaneously, sand clones of Gaara appeared from behind the Grass ninjas and held them tight. He did a series of seals and the bodies of sand surrounded all but the heads of their captives. "Mirage." Each of the Grass jounin found their arms, covered in Gaara's sand, take a kunai from their pouches. Like Kankurou's puppets the each started to move towards their comrades._

"_Ah…stop!"_

_Gaara ignored their protests. He didn't flinch as they stood in a circle, and then stabbed their comrade beside them in the head. Each of them died instantly, falling like dominoes. He ran over to Kankurou who was coughing and looking at the misty gray sky._

"_Kankurou," Gaara waved his hand in front of his face. "Can you still hear me?" His brother gave him a nod and tried to speak but coughed up blood instead. Gaara put his hand on his brother's face. He was growing cold. "Why? Why did this have to happen?"_

_The older man smiled patted Gaara's shaking hand. "Hey, stop looking so freaked out. We've been in tougher situations before."_

"_No, dammit!" He couldn't stop the tear the fell from his eye and onto the purple face paint of the person below him. "You always do this! You always but all your faith in me but I keep telling you that I'm not as good as you think. But I couldn't do it this time, Kankurou, and now you're going…" He covered his mouth, feeling sick._

"_Don't puke on me," Kankurou attempted to joke. "I'll be fine. Just get me back to the village. What's the worst that could happen?"_

_Gaara clenched his fist and backed away. The sand surrounded the injured shinobi and raised him off the ground. He didn't answer Kankurou's question. Instead, he rushed him back to Sunagakure, an uneasy feeling arising in his stomach._

Kirae returned and knelt beside Gaara. She put his arm over her shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Shall we return? I could take you to the village to recover for sometime, if you think that's better."

Gaara shook his head indicating that he'd rather head back to Sunagakure. Kirae nodded and began to walk off with him. The forest was no longer dark and life seemed to be slowly returning to the shadows. The red-haired ninja looked at his partner. She didn't look back. He looked forward at the path ahead of them.

Kankurou looked his little brother over. It looked like the fight had been tough for the both him and his Anbu assistant. "So, was it as the villagers speculated?" His voice indicated that he didn't want anything to be left out.

"Indeed, there was a demon by the name of Dairouchimimaru. He appeared to be a two-tailed wolf demon. He was amassing an army of humans for a reason that we were not able to find out. The humans were disbanded." Gaara glanced at Kirae. She her jaw was clenched tightly shut. "Kirae's speed was essential in warning the villagers of the danger. She was instrumental in keeping the demon at bay until I could fully unseal the Shukaku. She also used her elite skills as an Anbu to wake me afterwards. I believe more Anbu in this situation may have been too much in retrospect." Gaara bowed and put the mission report in front of Kankurou.

The Kazekage rubbed his temples. He couldn't believe that Gaara was telling the truth but he knew fully well that Gaara did not lie. Still, he was thankful that they were able to complete the mission with few casualties.

"Well, done. You've done more than save a few villages and my ass. You're practically heroes for eliminating that beast so efficiently," Kankurou mused standing up to approach them.

"I'd rather my name not be involved in this matter," Gaara stated. His brother gave him a disappointed look but nodded in agreement "I'll be going."

"Wait, a sec. Gaara, I want you to take a week to rest. You can stay with me; we have plenty of room."

Cool green eyes rested on him. "Is that an order as Kazekage or a request as my brother?"

"Both." Kankurou gave a weak smile. Gaara took deep breath.

"Only on the condition that you train with Mokumaru during that time," he responded. Kankurou smiled and nodded. Gaara left Kirae bowed to Kankurou and chased after Gaara. Once outside she took his wrist for a third time since they met. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "What?"

"Why didn't you tell him about me?"

He shrugged. "It's not important. The mission was completed."

"But-"

"Do you want me to tell him," he asked with a glare. She shook her head. "Then shut up about it." He took his arm back and kept walking. He felt something cold on his hand and looked down. A dark brown wolf had its nose pressed against his hand. He sighed and crossed his arms but he didn't scold Kirae for following him.

Mokumaru was outside playing with his yo-yo when he saw Gaara. "Uncle Gaara! I have a new technique!"

He stopped and nodded for the young boy to show him. He tossed a yo-yo into the air and it stayed there suspended. He looked at Gaara, with a serious face. He crossed his arms like his uncle was always doing and closed his eyes. "That's as far as I got."

Gaara smiled a little. Mokumaru was proud of every accomplishment he made. He was also proud of his family. At school, he didn't so much as brag about being the Kazekage's son but instead used it as a tool to help others. He ran around breaking up fights or helping the elderly villages "as the Kazekage's son". Kankurou was proud of him even though he didn't seem to have enough time to tell him that.

"Keep working on it, Mokumaru," he patted him on the head as he passed. The young boy looked down at the wolf that followed his uncle.

"Is he yours?" he asked pointing.

"She belongs to herself. She's just keeping me company," Gaara answered. Mokumaru retrieved his yo-yo and hopped down to examine the dog. When he realized that she was as big as he was he looked a little freaked out. "She won't hurt you."

He growled in thought. "Well, according to my observation, I don't think she's a dog at all." Gaara and Kirae looked shocked. Was it that obvious? Gaara looked at Kirae but could see nothing other than her enormous size that labeled her a demon. Mokumaru was very perceptive. "I think she's a wolf." Or not, he mused with a sigh. It was a close call, though. "She's too big to be a normal dog." He gave her a tentative pat on the back. She wagged her tail. Thought she had two, she kept the other tucked under her body.

"That's right. She is a wolf and her name is Kirae."

Mokumaru nodded in approval. "That is a very good name. I approve." He rubbed her muzzle. "Can I play with her?"

Gaara sat down on a nearby bench. "You should ask her." His nephew looked from him to the wolf.

"Mmmm… Kirae-san, do you want to help me train?" The wolf barked and licked him on the face. "Haha! Okay. Let's race! From here to the end of the street and back, okay?" She barked again and hopped around excitedly.

"On your marks. Get set." Mokumaru grinned and got down on the ground in a crouch. "GO!" He took off and Kirae trotted after him trying not to get ahead. She stayed behind him all the way down the street. On the way back she picked up the pace to be just beside him. Sweat poured off of his face as he pumped his legs harder. When they reached their goal, she pulled out ahead and beat him. Mokumaru collapsed on the ground.

"She won," Gaara noted.

"I wasn't ready!" Mokumaru said defensively.

"You're the one that said go." Gaara's nephew glared up at him after that remark. "Well, you did."

"I know but…" he started but ended the sentence in a grumble. Kirae licked his face and made him laugh. "I like her! Are you going to keep her?"

"She's not mine to keep."

"Well, Kirae-san. I hope you stay stick around and keep training with me," he bowed at her. Gaara rubbed the back of his neck. Was this really Kankurou's child? If so, where did he get his manners? Certainly not from Kankurou. Kirae barked in response. "I'm no Inuzuka but I think that was a yes," he said while nodding sagely.

After Gaara's 'sentence', as he sometimes called it around Kankurou, he was ready to leave immediately. He was just outside the gates when his brother called out to him. He was panting and holding his chest.

"Wow. Being Kazekage takes a lot out of you," he panted. Mokumaru ran up beside his father and gave Gaara a dirty look.

"You were going to leave without saying good-bye again?" he whined. Gaara looked apologetic.

"Gaara," Kankurou began, "leaving so soon?"

"Do you have another mission for me?"

His brother shook his head. "I was just hoping you would stay around a little longer. I hardly get to see you these days. You just come and go like a ghost."

"It's how I live."

Kankurou gave him a familiar look as he approached and grabbed Gaara's shirt. "Would it kill you to listen to your older brother sometimes?" No response. "Take care of yourself, all right?" He growled dropping Gaara. "Geez, you're a pain sometimes."

Gaara straightened his shirt. "I know." He looked back once more at the city and saw a large wolf looking at him expectantly. There was a slight frown on his face. He didn't want a traveling companion. "I'm going," was all he said as he left. The yellow eyes of Kirae burned into his back as he walked away. It became unbearable after a few steps and he stopped.

The Kazekage scratched his head at this. Suddenly, a sharp whistle pierced the air. He was about to open his mouth when a brown streak passed and a large dog stopped beside Gaara. His brother began walking again wordlessly.

Fumi ran around the fields chasing the deer. It was one of her favorite past times. Sometimes her father called her his 'little collie dog'. Temari was always worried that Fumi would end up trampled by a stampede of deer but Shikamaru assured her that it would take a giant wolf or nine tailed fox demon to make his deer stampede. His wife was still nervous every time Fumi went out like that and watched from the porch.

"She's fine," Shikamaru said, wrapping his arms around Temari's waist from behind. She tilted her head on his and continued watching. "Come back inside."

"You just want me to fix dinner," she stated flatly. This caught the pony-tailed ninja by surprise.

"What? I-I-…do…not."

"You do too." Temari reached back and pulled his ponytail. He released her as she walked past him and back inside.

Hmph. She thinks she knows everything, he thought bitterly to himself. Why did I marry her? Temari looked back over her shoulder and winked at him. "… Oh yeah," he grinned.

"GAARA!" Shikamaru looked up as he daughter screamed his brother-in-laws name from across the yard.

"STOP YELLING!" he screamed back.

"YOU'RE YELLING!" she retorted. They glared at each long distance. Shikamaru growled under his breath. "IF YOU BREAK YOUR OWN RULES IT'LL BE TROUBLESOME IF YOU EXPECT ME TO FOLLOW THEM!"

"STOP-" Shikamaru caught himself and rolled his eyes in exasperation. He looked to his left. Gaara was sitting on the fence railing, watching them with his expressionless green eyes. Beside him was a dark brown wolf. "Ah, Gaara. Long time no see."

Gaara looked at him and nodded. "Where's my sister?"

The lazy jounin jerked his thumb in the direction of the house. "Making up poison," he said sarcastically. "You know how her cooking is." He walked up to his brother-in-law and patted the dog. "Nice wolf."

"She's not my pet. She just follows me around."

Fumi had reached them by this time and immediately climbed up the rail into Gaara's arms. "Presents?"

Shikamaru hit her on the head. "Stop that. I didn't raise you to be rude."

The little blonde girl rubbed her head. "Troublesome," she muttered. Gaara tilted her chin up with his finger.

"You've gotten bigger. How's that tessen of yours?"

She was all too happy to hop off of his lap and head for the house. "I practice everyday! I'll be back!"

The two men were left alone. "She's such a troublesome child. She loves fighting-"

"Like her mother," they both said in unison. Shikamaru laughed. Fumi came out carrying the fan.

"Mommy, taught me to cut down small trees! I can cut down that one!" the little girl said, pointing to a sapling not far from them.

Shikamaru growled. "No you won't. So that's what happened to all of my trees I planted! I thought the deer were doing it at first."

Fumi pouted. "I need to practice, daddy!"

"Not on my landscaping!"

"TROUBLESOME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Shika rolled up his sleeves and started to walk towards her. His expression was dark and menacing. She squealed and ran for the house. It was rare that she did something bad enough that her father would give her a spanking, not that she couldn't agree that she deserved, but still, she still didn't enjoy them.

Gaara chuckled a little. "She doesn't just take after her mother it seems."

Shikamaru snorted derisively. "There's no way I was that much trouble."

After sometime, they went inside where Temari had finished cooking and set the table, to include Gaara. She never made a big deal of his visits. She knew he didn't like that kind of thing.

"How's Kankurou?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Fine. Fat. He's been busier than usual these days though," Gaara sat down. Kirae sat on the floor beside him.

Temari filled his plate with rice and curry. "How's Mokumaru?"

"Stupid," Fumi interjected. This was awarded with another hit on the head from her father. "Ow, troubl-"

"Stop using that word!" Shikamaru warned. She fumed silently.

Gaara ate several spoonfuls of curry. "He's advancing fast in his lessons. I might even be better than Fumi by now." The little blonde looked mortified. Temari nodded.

"She's been getting bad marks lately," she commented idly, taking her seat across from her brother. Fumi stuffed food in her mouth and looked deflated.

Temari looked over the table at the wolf. "Nice dog. Where in the world did find her?"

Gaara shrugged. "She's a wolf. I didn't find her, we just kind of met." Kirae wagged her tail as she looked at Temari with bright yellow eyes.

"She's gorgeous. Well, any friend of yours is a friend of ours," she took a few rolls and tossed them to Kirae. The wolf caught them in the air and devoured them in a matter of seconds.

The rest of dinner was eaten silence. Temari examined how much Gaara had changed. He was still quiet and reserved but she could tell that he cared very deeply for his family, friends, and even Sunagakure. It was a rare treat to see him smile but unlike when he was young at least he smiled at all. Yet, still there was a lingering sadness to him. She felt guilty leaving Sand after she married Shikamaru. It meant abandoning Gaara and Kankurou, though admittedly it was the former that she was most worried about. When Kankurou had gotten badly hurt in a mission, she had to come home to care from him. Gaara was beside himself with worry, though he hardly said a word.

He was a handsome young man of twenty-three now. She lamented that he wouldn't find a girlfriend. Why did he stubbornly persist in being lonely? Sure he was still young but she was worried about him.

Fumi clapped her hands together, breaking Temari out of her reverie. "Gochisou sama!" She climbed out of the chair and grabbed Kirae. "Come on and let's go outside. I'll teach you to round up deer." Shikamaru gave his daughter a look of concern as she tugged on the wolf's fur.

"Hey…don't be so rough and pushy," he warned. "Be nice and she'll follow you willingly."

The little girl stared at him for a moment with emerald green eyes. "Oh. Um… Puppy-puppy, come play with me? Um…Please?" She cooed sweetly. Kirae stood up and trotted over to the door. Fumi giggled and followed. She paused when she passed her father. He looked at her curiously. She climbed up the chair and kissed him on the cheek before running out the door. The action took him by surprise but he smiled.

"Brat…"

Fumi ran over to a head of deer grazing under the honey colored light of the setting sun. "We have to take them into the barn so that wolves don't eat them." She paused as Kirae tilted her head. "Well, I don't think _you_ would eat them just maybe your friends and that would be troublesome for dad."

The little girl examined the dozen or so deer in the yard. "We use their horns for medicine and I think we'll harvest that big male in the middle tomorrow so we have to be careful he doesn't poke us with those antlers." Kirae barked. The deer looked at them.

"You've got their attention now. This will be fun. Okay, we have to be fast. My record is three minutes with this number of deer." Fumi cracked her knuckles. On the count of three… One. Two. Three!" The both dashed off but Kirae ran so fast she left a trail in the earth. The deer bolted towards the forest for cover but she intercepted them. Fumi was stunned at the wolf's speed. In a flurry of hooves and fur, the oni in disguise had the deer in the pen leading to the barn in less than a minute. Fumi had to shake herself from her reverie and ran to the pen to close the gate. Kirae panted happily.

"You're really really really really really-"Fumi took a deep breath. "AWESOME!" She hugged the wolf tightly around the neck. "I gotta tell mom and dad. Let's go!" They ran for the door together, Kirae trailing lazily watching the little Nara's ponytail bouncing as she ran. Fumi didn't see the man at the fence as she ran inside but Kirae did and stopped to look.

His dark brown hair was wild like a mane on top of his head. His dark eyes bore the same feral spirit that was her nature. There were two large red triangles painted on his cheeks. Standing at his feet was a large white dog with floppy ears. He could have passed for a wolf, Kirae mused. The human frowned at her wordlessly. She looked at the door, where Fumi was replaying the whole chase with the utensils still left on the table. Gaara had his eyes closed, as though he was asleep. Kirae decided to go inside.

"Don't move," warned the man with a deep and dangerous voice. The oni paused in midstep giving him a sidelong glance. "I know what you are, rou-yasha." Kirae gasped. She walked away from the porch and walked towards the ninja. The dog gave an admonishing growl. She stopped.

"You're perceptive," she responded still in wolf form. "Inuzuka."


	5. Chapter 5

**Note**: This story is an edit and **replacement** for "Worthless Destiny". Refer to **Chapter 1** for details.

* * *

Chapter 5: Kirae's Secret Revealed and Rescued

Kiba didn't so much as flinch as the wolf before him changed into a woman with long brown hair. She had the same eyes as him but hers were more dangerous and wild. She calmly approached him, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I see my cousins are serving your family well," she continued. "But I must admit that I didn't expect to come across you today."

"Cut the crap. I could smell you before you even got in Konoha. What are you doing here?" he snapped. Akamaru continued to growl.

Kirae's face was a cold mask that revealed nothing of what she was thinking. "I'm with Sabakuno Gaara." There was a noticeable flinch when she said that name. "I'm his companion," she added coolly.

Kiba grabbed her arm firmly. "Don't you dare fall in love with him, oni. You and I both know that nothing good could possibly come from that kind of love."

"Who said I was falling in love. I just wanted a toy to play with," she hissed back, trying to snatch her arm away from him. He continued to hold her firmly.

"Look, I can't stop you from following him around. But so help me…" He squeezed her tighter. "Gaara's not stupid, he'll see you for what you really are one of these days."

"He already knows. He's seen me transform. And wouldn't you know," her expression changed to a dangerous one. Something wicked was on her mind. "He's already met my father. I guess that makes us a couple now."

Kiba's other hand balled into a fist. "Get out of Konoha. Now! I don't ever want to see your face here again, you got that?"

"Kiba?" Shikamaru was standing on the porch, hands in his pockets. Kiba continued to glare at the wolf oni.

He leaned into the girl and let her arm go as he whispered, "This had better be the end, rou-yasha." He turned and walked away without greeting Shikamaru.

The confused Nara looked at the woman who continued to stare at her retreating assailant. She grabbed the rail of the fence and jumped over it. And so the two were gone, leaving Shikamaru to puzzle over what the hell just happened in his backyard. Temari asked him about the yelling from the kitchen. "I dunno. Kiba looked pissed though. He was telling the lady that was in our yard something. I mean, I don't care about trespassers as long as they don't do anything but Kiba getting bothered about it? Not likely."

Gaara opened his eyes a little. "What did the woman look like?"

Temari poked her head in from the kitchen. If her little brother was interested in a girl then so was she. "Well," Shikamaru began, " She long brown hair, um…" He paused and shrugged. "All I noticed." His wife gave him the most disgusted look she could muster. They all turned when the heard Gaara's chair scrape against the ground as he stood up.

"Gaara…?" Temari spoke softly. He knelt down beside Fumi and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Bye-bye, Uncle Gaara." He waved and continued to play with the new shuriken and kunai that he gave her. Shikamaru frowned down at Fumi. He wished Gaara wouldn't give her weapons every time he came home. Her room was beginning to look like an arsenal.

"Do you know the woman," Shikamaru finally asked. Gaara nodded. "Well, come back and visit us then."

Gaara looked around outside to see which way Kirae had went. It wasn't that he cared about her. It was more that having her running around pissed off was a bad idea. Kiba most likely knew what she was, he determined. His superior nose and association with dogs would have seen right through her disguise. Still, he wondered what was said between them.

"Kirae?" he called half-heartedly. He began to walk down the street. When he came to Konoha he never visited anyone other than the Nara's. Occasionally, when on a mission he would need to see Naruto. Just like he had dreamed, the blonde haired loud-mouth had become Hokage a year or so before Kankurou. He probably had a hand in his brother's nomination to be Kazekage.

The wolf was waiting for him at the end of the street. Gaara walked up to her and put his hand on here soft, warm head. "What did Kiba say?" She sniffed and walked away, pausing only to make sure that he followed her. He groaned and followed.

"INARIIIIIII!" screamed a soaking Uzumaki Hinata. She held in her hands the bucket that had fallen on her in the process of dumping ice water on her head. She new it had to be the middle child of hers.

Inari, the oldest child and son, was sarcastic and easy-going but still he was every bit the prankster as… "NARUTOOOOOO!" She put the bucket down and squished down the hallway.

The Rokudaime Hokage was resting his chin on his palm as he doodled on a scroll, trying to look busy. "Huh? What is it, Hina-" He took one look at his dripping wife and began to laugh.

"Naruto! It's not funny. If you laugh, it will only encourage him," she stressed, removing her jacket which absorbed most of the water.

The older and slightly more mature Naruto wiped his eyes dry from the laughter tears and grinned. "You fell for the oldest one in the book, Hinata-chan." The former Hyuuga rolled her pale violet eyes.

"Where is your son, Naruto?" She shook her hair, spraying a little water around. "He should be with Ebisu-san training, not pulling pranks."

"Why is he _my _son when he's pulling pranks but _your_ son when he's being good,' Naruto asked with a pout. The response was a raised eyebrow and a dubious expression.

"Because," she began standing before his desk. "Pranks are so very Uzumaki and being well-behaved is so very Hyuuga."

Naruto gave this some thought. "Oh." He shrugged and stood up. "I'll go find him!" He literally hopped over his desk. The Hokage was dying to get out of his office and do something. Unfortunately, Hinata caught him by the collar.

She pointed to a stack of unread missions. "Narutooooo…" she sang. "You have a pile of missions to review and a meeting in an hour." Naruto wanted to cry. He sulked back over to his desk and flopped down.

"You're tough, Hinata." She tilted her head and smiled sweetly.

She turned to walk away but stopped short of the door. "Oh, and don't think you're off the hook for using Inari to get you out of work." Naruto's eyes widened. "Inari, get out from beneath your father's desk and come clean up this mess."

A tiny boy with long blond hair tied into a ponytail at the base of his neck and wild bangs poked his head out from beneath the desk. His jaw almost touched the floor. "How did? But…but…." He took a closer look at his mother and noticed the veins around her eyes. "ACK! CHEATING! The Byakugan is definitely cheating!"

She giggled and held her hand out to him. "Come on, I'll help you clean up." He pouted and jogged up to her, taking her soft and gentle hand. Naruto rested his chin on his palm again and smiled serenely.

Kiba had watched Gaara chase after the demon woman. He was still not certain of what the relationship between them was but the sand ninja did not look concerned. Still, Kiba couldn't dispel his concern. Currently, he was waiting for his friend to show up and was sitting on a park bench. His large hand scratched behind his dog and friend, Akamaru's ears. The now huge canine's tongue lolled out of his mouth.

He bore as many scars on his body as his master. Kiba's strong muscular arms were laced with cuts and scars. They had seen many battles together and close calls together. They were like brothers.

A crow passed over head, cawing loudly. "Say, Akamaru, do you want to hear a story?" The was a small airy 'woof' from Akamaru. "Once upon a time, there was a forest of wolves. Some of the wolves had one tail, they were the Chirou clan. But there were some wolves with two tails and they were the Dairou clan. The Dairou clan ruled the forest and protected it from outsiders. They weren't good or evil but they were powerful. It's said that among the Dairou, there was always a leader and that leader was the size of a mountain."

Akamaru scratched his shoulder but Kiba continued. "One day, humans seeking a place to live happened upon the Forest of the Wolves. They begged the Dairou to allow them to come in but they attacked the humans instead. The Chirou clan taking pity on human told the strongest human that they would become his servants and helped them defeat the Dairou. That man was Kentaro Inuzuka." He looked down at Akamaru.

" I bet you know where I'm going with this, huh?" The white dog gave him a canine smile and nodded. "Well, anyway, the Chirou and Kentaro were able to drive the Dairou back into the heart of the forest. He told the Dairou that he would let them live if they never interfered with the affairs of man again. So the pact was made and the two-tailed wolves disappeared into the darkness." Kiba closed his eyes and stood up. She was late.

Hinata appeared from the down the path, jogging lightly. "Wait, Kiba!"

"What took so long, Hinata? It's not like you to be late," he said with a frown. "Is that dork Naruto rubbing off on you?" Even though she was married to Naruto, he still had a soft spot in his heart for her.

"Actually, my son dumped cold water on me so I had to change," she explained calmly. Hinata knelt down and gave Akamaru a big kiss on his nose. The dog barked happily. She pulled a jar of medicine from her pocket. "Sorry, it takes so long to make this. Some of the scars are fresh aren't they?" She reached out and tried to touch one but Kiba gently swatted away her hand.

"They aren't too bad. And I don't mind waiting." He tossed the jar idly in one hand. "Your medicine is the best. I guess that's the price to pay for it since you won't let me buy it from you."

Hinata sighed. "We've gone over this Kiba. You're my friend and I can't take money from you." She smiled. "Besides, with all the missions we've been in? I owe you my life, a little medicine is nothing."

He chuckled and put the jar in his pouch. "Don't let those Uzumakis drive you crazy, Hinata." She shook her head. "I'll see you."

"Ah, Kiba?" He paused and looked back. "What's wrong?"

The wild man looked bewildered. "I didn't say anything was wrong."

Her expression changed to a more solemn one. "I don't need the Byakugan to see that you're bothered by something." Kiba looked down at the ground.

"For right now, it's nothing but if it becomes something…" He narrowed his eyes. "You and Naruto will be the firsts to know." He turned on his heel and walked way, leaving Hinata confused.

The stars above Gaara twinkled lazily. He hadn't seen his brother or sister in almost month. He assumed it would be a good time to visit one of the two. He heard Kirae shift in her sleep. The full moon watched over them that night. The Anbu was growing more and more restless as the weeks passed. Ever since the argument with Kiba she became more and more irritable and found excuses to snap at him. Whatever the Inuzuka said it bothered her to her very core but Gaara was content to not be involved.

He closed his eyes. He sometimes like to pretend that he was sleeping. As a child, he'd watch Kankurou or Temari sleep and when he was alone mimic their movements. It kept him entertained when there was nothing to do at night. When he turned over he felt something breathing on him. Gaara snapped his eyes open, ready to kill whoever was there.

It was Kirae, strands of hair falling in front of her brown eyes. Her expression was troubled, something between confusion and pain. He sat up and looked around. "What's wrong?" he asked flatly. She just continued to stare at him. "I don't see anything. Did you hear something?"

She crawled on all fours and sat in his lap, scaring him. His heart skipped a beat or two when she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Gaara?" she mumbled with a thick voice. She sounded like she was dreaming. He tried to push her off gently but she put her knees on either side of his waist and hugged him tightly. "Do you think I'm desirable?"

"What?" he responded bewildered. Her wild brown eyes were half closed and her breathing was slow. "Kirae, what's wrong with you? Are you hurt or-" Suddenly, she kissed him forcefully on the lips. He wanted to push her away but something kept him from moving. He wasn't a person of romance or any kind of close physical contact but her hands kept exploring him curiously. What should he do?

Kirae began to kiss his neck. He opened his mouth to speak but he didn't know what to say. What would Kankurou do he wondered, his closest thing to a role-model? He thought about Mokumaru and the answer was obvious; we would hesitate to jump right in. What was the worst that could happen, he thought to himself. He might enjoy it? He might be bad at it? He laid back, the stars were still twinkling down at him.

5 years later…

Shikamaru fell to his knees from an attack. This mission proved to be more troublesome than he had recently anticipated. He turned his eyes over to Hide who lie impaled on a large kunai. The older chuunin had been assigned to the mission with Temari and himself. It saddened him to no end that under his command they had been overwhelmed by an ambush from a completely unrelated mission. They were simply assigned to eliminate a group of loan shark thugs but when they arrived the thugs were already eliminated. Thus they failed the mission they were on, a B rank, and being thrust into a fierce battle for their lives.

Temari was doing her best to hold the assailant- a single missing-nin - at bay. The man called himself Toraki, the Blade of the Wind. At first the Konoha ninja scoffed at him but it soon became apparent why he was so confident in his name. Unusually tall and thin, he didn't look strong but he was surprisingly powerful and fast. Toraki favored barraging his enemies with a rain of projectiles then escaping. He was too fast for Shikamaru's Shadow Binding technique and only barely was capable of escaping Temari's wind attacks.

The pony-tailed ninja's vision blurred as he swayed on his knees. He bent his head up to look at the clouds but was unexpectedly kicked in the side of the head, sending him flying across the opening. Temari's scream reached his ears but he was unable to open his eyes to look at her.

"So this is Konoha's strength?" Toraki turned from Shikamaru and turned to Temari. She was leaning on her open fan desperately trying to slow her breathing. Her heart was pounding like a train in her chest, so much so she could hear it in her ears. Her husband lied in a heap a few yards away but she couldn't tell whether or not he was still alive. It was up to her to defeat their opponent and save him. She smirked confidently, though inside she despaired.

"Actually, Konoha is much stronger than this. However, by they way you're having such trouble with us, I think anyone better would be a bit too overwhelming for you," she mocked as she straightened up.

Toraki tossed his head back and laughed. "This isn't even half of my strength!" Temari winced. "Half the fun is to toy with my prey before I end its life. In other words…" he hissed. He pulled the giant shuriken he had previously used out of the ground. "I'm going to enjoy killing you in front of your husband."

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open. "TEMARI! RUN!" The will to run to her was there but his body was too badly wounded for him to do much more than attempt a slow crawl in her direction.

Temari readied herself for the attack but Toraki disappeared before her eyes. She felt his presence be above him so she looked up but there was nothing. Too late she realized the distraction and was elbowed in the gut. She coughed up blood and doubled over in pain. There was no time to recover from this hit as the missing-nin punched her in the face sending her scraping the ground.

"Say 'Good Bye'!" Toraki took to the air again visibly. "_Shinigami Namida no Jutsu_ (Tears of a Death God Technique)!" Temari could see the glistening blades of the needles racing down and tossed her arms up in defense. She felt warm blood on her face and arms. The pain wasn't there however. Shikamaru, she wondered. He heart sank as she opened her eyes.

Two soft green eyes stared sorrowfully at her. "A…are you okay, Miss?" squeaked the little boy's voice. He had brown wild hair and his green eyes were rimmed in black but he had a strange gentleness to him. His clothes were rags but he had gold, silver, and copper bracelets on his wrists and ankles. She wanted to scream as she noticed the barrage of needles coming out of his back. He had taken the hit for her. Some of the needles even went through.

"What the hell…" Toraki landed . "I hate children. They always get in the way!" Punctuating his sentence he threw the giant shuriken. It cut into the earth as its blades whistled. The little boy, still looking sad and regretful turned to stop the blade. Temari pushed him down.

Blood showered the ground as she stopped the blade with her hands and shoulder. She looked down at the little boy. "Go home, honey. I'll protect you." She gave him the best smile she could muster.

But, the little boy stared at her dripped blood morbidly. He touched his cheek, smearing a little that had been sprayed across his pale skin. The smell assailed his nose and went right to his brain. The warmth… The young child began shaking and the world around him began to quiver as well. His once green eyes widened and turned yellow. Temari's stomach flipped. It was the same as the Shukaku's eye! "No…"she muttered in awe.

He grabbed his head and doubled over. Yellow chakara swirled around him as dark brown and black fur began to grow from his skin and clothes. Everyone stopped to watch in fear. Shikamaru was the first to awaken from his stupor and began to inch his way over to his wife. The boy however continued to change. His teeth grew into sharp fangs and his face elongated. The needles sticking into his body were being forced out and falling to the ground with a loud clatter. He was becoming some kind of demon, Temari realized.

Two large tails swished as the little boy finally became an 12-foot were-wolf like creature. Toraki caught his breath when six burning eyes focus on him. For the first time in a long time he felt himself shaking with fear. The demon howled an eerie noise that sounded as though it came from three voices all at once.

Toraki braced himself and decided that it would likely be slow. A quick attack would finish it. He disappeared. Shuriken rained down on the demon but with one swing of its tails they all were deflected by a powerful gust of wind. The wolf crouched down and rushed forward with surprising speed. He shot his arm forward. Blood spattered the ground. At the end of his outstretched paw was Toraki's skull. He whimpered as the wolf picked him off the ground.

"Don't! Don't kill-", he whimpered around the paw pressed against his face but he didn't have time to finish. The demon shoved his head into the earth with a bloody crunch. Still, he wasn't finished. He picked the body up and slammed it down repeatedly, mercilessly.

Shikamaru reached Temari by this time and tugged on her shirt. "We have to go." But his wife remained fixed. "Temari!" he hissed under his breath trying to get her attention.

"No…" She ran forward, scaring the wits out of Shikamaru. Something compelled her forward. The kind eyes of the boy and then the way he transformed. Something warned her that she had to react. She hugged wolf demon from behind. Her arms didn't reach the entire way around but she squeezed tightly regardless. "NO, Stop! Please stop!"

The demon paused and looked back at her, drool dripping from its lips. He growling faded into sad whimpering. Temari stared up at the three eyes with tears in hers. "That's a good boy… He's dead so you don't have to do this anymore. Please? For Me?" She held out her hands. "Come on…" she cooed. "That's a good boy…" The wolf slowly turned and put his large muzzle in her bleeding hands. He looked miserable. Those were the sad eyes of a kind heart, she thought to herself. He licked her fingers, trying to clean the blood, whining and whimpering pitifully. "It's a good boy…That's it. I'm okay." She leaned in and hugged him around the neck.

Shikamaru watched in awe as the fearsome demon shrank in his wife's arms and turned into a little boy again. The child sobbed and squeezed Temari tightly. The woman cuddled him she held him at arms length. He rubbed his eyes with his arms, sniffling. "Wow…you look like…Gaara," she breathed. "No way… You couldn't be-"

She was cut off by an Anbu kunoichi dropping behind the boy. Temari opened her mouth to speak to the masked woman but the ninja grabbed the little boy by the back of the shirt and picked him up. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Temari screamed, rising to her feet. She reached for her fan but she had dropped it after Toraki attacked her.

The Anbu stared at her for a moment before jumping into a tree. "I'm just taking out some trash," she answered nonchalantly and disappeared with the boy in her arms.

Shikamaru stumbled over to his wife. He had a nagging feeling about that Anbu but he couldn't place it. He was in too much pain and his wife was bleeding badly. "Temari…"

"That little kid…He looked like Gaara."

1 month later…

Fumi was shoveling food in her mouth, reading a paper from school in-between mouthfuls. "And the First created this tree to mark the end of a long drought period and it is said to have healing powers. Then-" she took another bite of toast.

Shikamaru took the paper out of her hand. "I know. I know. You had better hurry up or you'll be late." Fumi nodded and grabbed her backpack which made a lot of metallic noises. "Don't move…"

His daughter tried to give him a sweet grin but she was clearly busted. "Are you going to fight a war?"

"No."

"Then why-" There was the sound of honking outside their home.

"Fumi, the bus is here!" called Temari from the kitchen.

"Sorry, dad! Gotta go!" She proceeded to escape the situation as fast as possible.

Shikamaru sat down on the couch. The pain in his chest, a wound from his last mission, reminded him about the little boy and the woman. "Troublesome. I hope no more missions go that way or I might have to retire earlier than I thought."

The field trip was supposed to be for educational purposes but the children used it as an excuse to goof off and run around. It turned out that there were Sand village children there as well. Fumi immediately sought out her cousin. He was standing with a few friends stuffing his face full of pocky.

"Hey! Mokun," she called out to him. He looked up and apologized to his friends before running up to her. "Let's go train."

Mokumaru rubbed his chin and considered her invitation. "Well… We're really aren't supposed to wander to far."

Fumi leaned into her cousin, her expression suspicious and playful. "But as the son of the Kazekage, what's a better place to become a good ninja than at a historical place like this?" The younger boy's expression brightened.

"Well said, Fumi! You're absolutely right!" He started marching off towards the forest. Fumi chuckled to her safe and gave an inward 'v' sign.

"Yeah, my mom's going to have a little brother for me," Fumi noted flipping her fan open and closed. They found an open area surrounded by large ancient trees. "Old Lady Tsunade said so. Dad looked like he was going to pass out, so I kicked him in the shin." She sighed . "He yelled at me."

Mokumaru was sitting on a low hanging branch yo-yoing. "When you kick people, that tends to happen. I want a little brother but Dad says he's too busy to do much more than breath these days."

"I'll give you my little brother for a yo-yo," Fumi haggled. Mokumaru gave her a look. She smiled. "What?"

"Do you hear something?" They both paused and looked around. It was a soft whimpering sound.

"Sounds like…crying." Fumi walked towards the noise. "Come on, let's go find out what it is."

Mokumaru nodded and jumped off the branch to follow. They didn't walk far until they found a small cave under a large tree. Mokumaru peered inside curiously. Fumi looked in another direction, though she pushed his backside with her foot, causing him to tumble inside. Mokumaru landed next to a boy about the age of five curled up into a ball, whimpering in his sleep. His had a few cuts and many bruises.

He shook the kid awake. "Hey, kid, you're just dreaming okay…" The boy opened his eyes and yelped, scuttling back. His black rimmed eyes were full of fear. "It's okay, I'm the son of the Kazekage, so I won't hurt you."

"Stop bragging," Fumi scolded, finally coming down. She sat down cross legged. "My name is Nara, Fumi Nara. I come from Konoha. What's your name?"

The boy looked down at the ground and nervously, played with the metal bracelets. "I… My mom… calls me…worthless, or trash, or waste of life…" he said pathetically. The two children's eyes went wide.

Fumi looked at Mokumaru and he looked back. "We should get him out of here," she said with a nod. She grabbed his hand and tried to walk out with him but a chain around his leg attached to the wall of the cave kept him bound to the spot.

"Mommy says I'm not allowed to leave," he said, regarding the chain. He sighed. "You guys should go though. If my mommy comes back, she'll-"

Mokumaru stood up and pulled out a metal yo-yo. "I've been waiting to use this." Fumi looked concerned. "Don't worry, I've been practicing with dad. Okay, don't move the chain and don't anyone get in my way."

Fumi nodded, hold the little boys hands so that he didn't accidentally get hurt by her oafish cousin. "Listen to him. He's likely to take off your hand if you aren't paying attention," she warned with a whisper.

Mokumaru tossed the yo-yo a few times experimentally to make sure the connection to his chakra strings was tight. Each time the toy bounce down metal blade came out and spun in time.

"'Kay. Here I go!" He flung the yo-yo out and Fumi yipped, holding onto the little boy who watched with fascination as the blades of the yo-yo dug unto the chain.

"Don't move. Don't breathe," Fumi warned again.

The young shinobi strained to keep the yo-yo out but eventually had to bring it back. "Whew…Well, that didn't work."

"Obviously, moron. This is going to be troublesome…" The girl sighed and stared at the ground in thought.

The small boy crawled over to where Mokumaru's weapon had made a nick in the chain and sighed. "It's all right. I guess I belong here."

Mokumaru clenched his fists. "Maybe, I can try again… but I dunno if I have enough chakra."

"You guys are terrible. Move it, short stuff," Fumi ordered. She nudged him over and looked at the lock around his ankle. Mokumaru and the other boy just watched obediently. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small needle. She poked and prodded the lock until there was a joyous 'click' and the shackle opened. "Never underestimate the power of a woman's mind!"

"Stop bragging. Come on, lets go!" he shouted, grabbing the captive child. The three of them clamored out of the cave. Mokumaru looked left and right. "Anyone remember which way we came from?"

"This way!" Fumi charged ahead and the others followed her. They had tried to get as far away from the main temple area as possible so that their teachers wouldn't interrupt them during their training. Now they were coming to regret it.

The boy was silent until they heard a howl behind them. "That's my mother," he sighed. "Please, just leave me. She wants me and you'll never get away because-"

"Shut up!" Mokumaru snapped. "Shut up, watch and learn!" Mokumaru pulled out several tags from his vest jacket and tossed them out. They landed on the trunks of the trees awaiting activation. "This'll keep her busy. You, on my back." The boy climbed up reluctantly. "Fumi you're fastest scout ahead."

"Right- Hey, I'm the oldest here! I should be leader-" There was another howl. She glared at Mokumaru. "Later, mophead, later." Fumi dashed ahead.

Mokumaru felt like he was on a mission. A rescue mission. And he wasn't even genin, yet! He tried to quell his excitement and think seriously. "We can't let his mom take him back. But if we take him to our teachers they might think that we're playing around and give him back."

Fumi narrowed her eyes. "Good point. I have an idea but you'll have to trust me completely." She looked at him and he nodded. They stopped as they heard an explosion behind them. "CRAP! How many explosive tags did you use?" They paused for just a moment until they hard snarling and barking.

"Not enough apparently! Crap! Um…" He pulled out more tags and began attaching them to the trees. "Fumi, you gotta carry him. This is my last ditch technique."

Fumi picked up the boy. "'Last Ditch'?'" She looked at the tags he was pulling out and placing on the trees. She didn't recognize them. "Explosives?"

"Nope. My own special technique that created from what my dad showed me," he responded cryptically.

"So it's your dad's jutsu."

"Shut up. There." He hopped back over to her. "I'm definitely going to be out of chakra now. Let's go." Fumi was still curious but realized that they were running out of time. They took off one more time.

Kirae quickly brushed off the explosive attacks. They were the kind that children used and only surprised her a little. She didn't know who had helped him escape but she was going to kill them. How did she let the brat get away again! She jumped tree to tree in her wolf form pursuing the scent of her son. She saw the tags on the trees and deemed to ignore them; more useless explosives. But when she went through them they did not explode instead they formed blue strings of chakra the stuck to her like webbing. Kirae struggled but found herself trapped like a fly in a spider's nest.

Mokumaru stumbled as he landed. They heard another howl. "Yes, it worked but we won't have much time at all."

Fumi grinned as she put down the small boy. "Leave it to me. Okay, little guy. I need you to do bunshin no jutsu."

He stared at her dumbly. "What's that?" The two ninja-in-training looked aghast.

"What were you? Raised in a ca-," Fumi cut herself short. "Nevermind that. Even if you can't make a perfect clone any kind of clone with your scent and chakra will do. Okay. So do you hands like this," she formed the hand seal and try to split yourself in two like this. "Bunshin no jutsu!" Fumi made a perfect clone of herself. Mokumaru scoffed. He could do it too, even though his clones tended to be a little lopsided.

The boy did as he was told but couldn't do it, he looked down at the ground ashamed. Fumi shook her head. "It'll never work if you don't want it to! You have to have complete and total faith in your ability. Try with all of your might! If you don't your mom, will get you for sure."

Mokumaru sat down. "Hurry up. I think I'm losing it…" The String tags took chakra directly from him. If he father knew what he was doing he'd be in for a big lecture but it was for a good cause, he reasoned.

Again the shaggy haired boy began to concentrate. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and thought about what awaited him if he was caught. With this idea in mind, he forced the 'blue' energy called 'chakra' to divide into two and make a clone of himself. When he looked beside him, he found a pale lump that only vaguely looked like him.

"That's it. I've lost the connection. She's free," Mokumaru exclaimed, falling over, panting. Fumi shoved the useless clone at Mokumaru. "Hey!"

"Take the clone, I'm taking the kid."

"But my dad is Kazeka-"

"Exactly, moron! She'll be expecting you to take the little kid and not me. Hide the clone as well as you can." They heard the whistle which meant that they were returning home. "This is our chance. I'll see you around, mophead!" She ran off dragging the boy. Mokumaru growled but ran off as well for his school group.

Fumi beelined for the souvenir shop where she found the largest stuffed toy she could, it was a gigantic bear. The boy was only able to marvel at it for only a second after she bought it before she ripped the back of it open and began tearing out the stuffing. "Climb in. Don't move or make a noise until I say it's okay."

Obediently he climbed into the back. She threw the stuffing away in the trash, picked up the child in plushie skin over to her group, careful to hide the back with her body. When no one was looking she performed the bunshin no justu and then a henge. Now she had a perfect clone of the kid.

Iruka watched to make sure the kids boarded the bus in an orderly fashion. He was shocked to see a large wolf bounding towards the kids. At first he wondered if it wasn't one of the Inuzuka dogs but when it attacked a small child at the end of the lined, he knew it was a wild one. With lightening quickness, he through a kunai at it but it jumped back. The child was a clone. The wolf gave him a baleful look and ran off.

The wolf-demon saw her son in the distance and headed straight for him. She would have to be quick so that they ninja instructors didn't catch her. But when she bit down on the boys shoulder she knew instantly that she had been tricked. Her nose had told her that this was him but the child disappeared in a puff of smoke. A clone. Unfortunately, one of the teacher's caught her and barely missed her with a kunai. She glanced at Fumi who looked genuinely shocked. So that was one of the second scents. That meant that the third was… Of course, she thought. They would take the boy to Kazekuni and to Kankurou. She ran off quickly in pursuit. Iruka signaled for the bus driver to go on.

Fumi climbed out of the bus and waddled over to her father, holding the tremendous bear. She grinned broadly. Shikamaru couldn't help but to smile back. For all the trouble she caused, he'd be bored without her around. "So what's with the giant bear?"

"I needed something for target practice," she replied matter-of-factly. He shook his head.

"So how was the field trip? Fun?"

"Troublesome," his daughter moaned.

"Hm?"

"I'll explain when we get home."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Gaara's Unknown Legacy

Fumi sat the heavy bear down on the porch as a deer came up and nuzzled her. Shikamaru patted the deer then shooed it away. "Hungry? Mrs. Uchiha made cookies."

"WOO!" screamed the girl. She removed her shoes and ran inside. Shikamaru picked up the bear marveling at its weight and once inside put it down on the couch. He paused when he though he heard the bear make noise but decided he was finally losing it. Fumi was already munching on a cookie, when she ran over to him. "Oh! Dad, you didn't have to do that. I would have gotten him."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Just a stuffed toy. Not a bomb." He ruffled her hair.

"Acutally, it's a little boy that was being held captive by his evil mother that was really a wolf," she explained. Temari and Shikamaru smiled at each other. At least she was creative.

"Riiiight."

Fumi pouted. "What! I'm serious!" She patted the bear on the head. "Hey, short stuff. We're at home now so come on out." Temari sat down on the couch beside the bear, tossing her arm over the back. However she almost ended up on the floor as the back of the bear opened up and a small boy climbed out.

Shikamaru grabbed his daughter by the ponytail and pulled it back so that she was looking up at him. "Oy, what the hell is this?"

"I told you already! Don't you listen?"

Temari gasped. The little boy picking lint out of his mouth and hair was the boy that had defended her almost a month ago. "It's him." She grabbed him and pulled him down into her lap to get a better look at him.

He had the same black rimmed eyes that begged for forgiveness and love as the boy that saved her life. Currently looked confused and scared. Shikamaru let got of Fumi's ponytail and leaned over the couch to also look at the boy. "Wow…he really _does_ look like Gaara."

The boy raised his hand and to his mouth and nervously toyed with his bottom lip. He scrunched up his forehead and shrank under their gaze. Temari reached out to touch his face, not sure if he was real or not. He smelled like dirt and the outdoors. His skin was cool and soft. He sniffed her fingers curiously like a dog. Then a joyful expression pass over his face and he launched himself into her arms.

"I know you. I know you!" He bounced in her lap with joy. "You were in the forest that day and that man was hurting you and I helped but…" He stopped in his explanation and looked ashamed, as he remembered his transformation. Temari blinked. "But I…" He shrank down and sitting in her lap was a tiny red and black wolf cup. Ears down, he hopped off the couch and shrank under a table.

Fumi was beside herself. "Oh…my….god. PUPPY!" she squealed. She reached under the table and dragged him out. "Can we keep him? Can we keep him? PLEASE, DADDY!"

Shikamaru bonked her on the head. "He's not a dog, you psycho, and stop squeezing him like that." His daughter gave him a reproachful glare and put him down. "What is this kid?"

Temari shrugged staring at the shaking cub. "Gaara?" She caught herself. "I mean…what's your name, sweety?"

The puppy turned back into boy with a 'pop' and a puff of smoke. "…Worthless, trash, waste of life, wretched brat," he began rattling off all the things his mother called him. Temari clenched her fist so tightly that she drew blood in her palm. She was filled with the desire to find this woman and beat her sensless with her fan.

Worried, her husband patted the boy's head to get him to stop. "Well, that won't do at all. We'll find something else to call you. For now, we'll call you Puppy."

"Okay. I like that," he said weakly.

Fumi glomped him tightly. "PUPPY!" She exclaimed then slipped a leash around his neck. "Okay, Puppy. Let's go for a walk." Smack!

"HE IS NOT A DOG, DAMMIT!" Shikamaru wore his "If I have to spank you it will be troublesome and most likely painful" face and Fumi, wordlessly, pulled the leash off her new friend and stood ashamed at a safe distance from her father, grumbling. "That's better."

There was a knock at their door. Fumi sat on the stairs, Puppy sat by her as well. When Shikamaru opened the door he was surprised to see Kiba and Akamaru there. The Inuzuka wore a serious expression, his eyes darting around the room and then finally resting on Puppy who was sitting by Fumi.

"Hi, Uncle Kiba! Aka-Akamaru!" She waved merrily at them. Kiba didn't respond.

Shikamaru crossed his arms, expecting to be told that he was due for a mission. "Hey, Kiba. What's with the face?"

"You have to give me that kid," he stated firmly.

Temari looked shocked. "What? Do you know him, Kiba?"

"That child has to be destroyed!" Kiba glared intensely at the boy; Akamaru began to growl, his hackles raised. Everyone stopped dead.

Puppy raised his hands to his mouth again. Shikamaru shook his head to clear it. "Have you lost it, Kiba?"

"Look, Shikamaru. That kid is not any normal child. He shouldn't exist! The very fact that he's still alive means that everyone is in danger. If-"

"Kiba!" shouted Temari but the Inuzuka would have none of it.

"If you don't kill him now then only misery will follow," he warned. "That boy is an oni. A demon."

Shikamaru turned and looked at Puppy, who was near tears. Fumi put her arm around him protectively. "That would explain the transformations but I still don't understand what you mean, Kiba. He saved our lives and has had plenty of time to kills us. Quite frankly, he's more harm to himself than us. Just explain-"

Kiba shoved Shikamaru aside and pointed to the kid. "Akamaru!" The large white dog snarled and lunged forward. Temari watched in slow motion as the dog flew through the air and screamed when blood splurted up.

Clear green eyes glared at Akamaru, who was now clenching down on Fumi's forearm. "Bad dog, Akamaru," she admonished with a cold voice. The blood trailed down her arm and hit the floor with a patter. "No hurting my friends." Akamaru carefully let go and tucked his tail between his legs. He had bitten the hand that petted, spoiled, and loved him. He shrank back and whimpered in apology. He gave a mournful look back at Kiba.

"Don't give me that look. Just-" He stopped and watched Puppy.

The boy was holding his head, staring at Fumi's blood. She had stepped in to defend him from being hurt but in the process she was now hurt. Life was pouring from her wound and onto the floor, pooling like red rain at their feet. There was so much of it- too much. It was his fault- his fault for not protecting Fumi. No, he reasoned, it was the dog's fault. He hurt Fumi. He made her bleed and he would kill him.

"Oh no, Puppy!" Temari cried. But she was too late to reach him. The boy was already transforming into a demon.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled but Shikamaru grabbed him by the shirt.

"Dammit! Haven't you done enough?"

Kiba's eyes looked pleading. "You've gotta kill the kid, Shikamaru…" The usually lazy Nara turned to see the wolf-oni hunkered over Fumi and snarling at Akamaru. His little girl stared at Puppy with fear in her eyes.

Puppy tried to grab Akamaru but the dog was too fast and clamped down on his wrist. He howled and grabbed Akamaru's neck trying to pull him off. Fumi covered her head. "DADDY!"

Shikamaru immediately extended his shadow and held the wolf demon in his spot. "Temari, take Fumi to the bathroom and get her fixed up. Kiba, Akamaru, get the hell out of my house before I really get pissed." Temari grabbed their daughter and carried her to the bathroom.

Kiba took a deep breath before whistling for Akamaru. Relunctantly, the dog let go and shuffled over to his master. "I really hope you don't but... you'll regret this, Shika-"

"Get out," he snapped. Kiba nodded and left the Nara premises. Shikamaru let go of the shadow binding jutsu and looked at the demon before him. The wolf continued to glare and snarl at the doorway where the intruders had appeared. Shikamaru approached him and sighed. "I must be insane…" He touched Puppy on the head and petted him. The demon boy put its ears down and curled his tails under his body. The jounin sighed. On the inside, he was probably as afraid of Puppy as Fumi was but he held his hand out to the demon anyway. "It's all right. It's all over."

The demon closed his six eyes and fell to all fours. He had to hunker down to stand in the house but at all fours he still reaching Shikamaru's chest. Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. "Hey, hey. Stop that now. No one's really hurt," he said softly patting the Puppy's head. "How about you go back to the old you. I'll get you some cookies." The boy did as he was told but remained on his knees on the floor, shaking and sniffing. A man of his word, he placed a cookie in front of Puppy but the boy didn't take it. He simply sat there.

Temari returned holding Fumi's hand, the girls armed was tightly wrapped in white bandages, only a little blood soaking through. The ex-sandnin took one look at Puppy and gritted her teeth. "Where's that damned Kiba? I'll kill him." Fumi ran over to the boy and gave him a hug and a huge grin.

"I'm okay!" She assured. Puppy shrank into his cub form and found silent solace under the couch. Fumi blinked. "Where's that damned Kiba? I'll kill him!" Shikamaru sighed. He didn't feel like admonishing her so he just gave her a stern look.

"Let's just…go to bed. It's late," he grumbled. Temari sighed and nodded. "Fumi, go to your room."

"But…" She didn't feel like pressing the matter and shuffled to her room.

The next morning, Fumi ran into her parent's room and jumped on the bed. "He's goooone!" She wailed tearfully.

"Son of a-… This is going to be a troublesome day…" Shikamaru put a pillow over his face and groaned into it.

Uchiha Sasuke slid open the door to step outside. It was bright outside and he had to shield his eyes from the light. Sakura was napping and the children were playing at a schoolmates home. He was eager to head to the precinct. Today, was technically his day off but Sasuke was known around the office for being a severe workaholic. He smiled and took a deep breath. When he looked down , he saw a small child asleep on his porch sucking his thumb.

"Hm? What the…" He knelt down and shook the boy slightly on the shoulder. "Hey. What are you doing on my porch? You lost?" The child turned and looked into Sasuke's red sharingan eyes, yelped, and dodged under his porch. Sasuke blinked in surprise. He lied down on his chest and swung his head over the edge to look. Instead of the brown haired boy that looked like a beggar he saw a shivering puppy instead. "Eh?"

"Don't eat me," it squeaked. It backed up further.

"Eat you?" Sasuke closed his eyes in realization. His eyes must have scared him. When he opened his eyes they were kind, black pools. "There. See? I'm not a bad looking guy. I'm a cop."

"A cop?"

"Yes. I help people. It's my job," he explained kindly. He reached a hand under the porch. "I'd like to help you too, if you let me?" The puppy gingerly approached his hand sniffed his fingers carefully. Sasuke took the opportunity to grab the dog by the scruff of his neck and pull him out.

"Don't eat me," he squeaked again, looking pitiful.

Sasuke held the dog out. He assumed the child used henge but it why a puppy? "I'm not going to eat you. I don't eat dogs or cats or people so why don't you change back, hm?" With a pop, he was holding a small boy with black rimmed eyes under the armpits. He almost dropped him. "Holy shit! Gaara?"

The boy sighed and looked down at the ground. "Why does everyone call me that? Does it mean something bad?"

Officer Uchiha put the child down and sat on his porch. The boy did bear a remarkable resemblance to the sand using psychopath but his hair was browner and he lacked the tale-tell 'love' kanji on his forehead. Was this his son? Gaara? Having children? Sasuke shook his head in disbelief.

"Aaah, sorry… What is your name then?" he asked conversationally. The boy sat down beside him and put his thumb in his mouth. "You can tell me…"

The boy shook his head. "You'll get mad," he muttered around his thumb.

"I promise I won't."

"Worthless…" , he began, "trash, waste of life, worm, miserable brat…" Sasuke blinked at the names, if you could call them that.

"Whoa, whoa! You have to be kidding who the hell would call-!" The boy winced at the yelling and turned into a puppy again. Sasuke caught him by the scruff before he could retreat under the porch again. " Wait, wait. I'm not mad. I just was a little surprised. Could you…uh…henge again." Again he resumed human form. "So why are you here?"

The boy pulled his knees to his chin. "I…I made the demon come out and no one likes me anymore. So I ran away."

Sasuke paused at the mention of demon. "Demon? What kind of demon? What happened?" He was in cop mode now. Answers. He needed answers and details. However, the boy started to cry. Afraid that his sobbing would wake Sakura, he picked the boy up and carried him away from the house.

What should he do? He had a child sobbing in is arms talking about how he was worthless and made demons come out. A light went on in his head. Naruto. He knew all about demons and he was great with kids. All six of the his liked him at least. Naruto often commented every time he saw the Uchiha Six that they were a testament to how serious Sasuke was about reviving his clan but never hesitated to baby-sit them. Besides, as Hokage, it was his duty to figure things out and this would be a great time for Sasuke to sit him down and have a nice long talk about business.

Naruto had been avoiding his monthly reports for the last three months. Sure they were long and boring but it was his duty as Hokage. He wanted to be the leader so damned bad, he should learn to shoulder some of the "boring" responsibilities as well.

The boy in his arms was quiet. He looked down to see him looking up and sucking his thumb. Sasuke smiled kindly. "Feeling better?" The child shook his head no and rested his cheek on Sasuke's shoulder. He sighed and was thankful when the stairs to the Hokage's home came into view. Naruto was outside with his family. Hinata watched as he played tag with his two sons and daughter.

"Narutoooo!" Sasuke called out waving. Naruto stopped just long enough for his kids to pile on top of him.

"Dammit Sasuke, you bastard! I was doing good until you showed up," Naruto growled playfully, flipping Inari upside down. "What do you want?" He shook his oldest as he held on tightly to the boy's ankles.

"Dad, I can't feel my brain anymore!" protested Inari, his eyes beginning to swirl. Naruto dropped him but the oldest Uzumaki dropped his hands and flipped to his feet. He took a few wobbling steps before he shook his head vigourously. Seeing his father busy the three Uzumakis ran off to play with by themselves.

Sasuke put the little boy down and approached Naruto. "Hokage-sama." He bowed deeply. Of course he was supposed to do it technically but the fact was that acting so polite irritated the blonde-haired man so Sasuke did it every time with out fail, just so that Naruto would have an outburst.

"You moron. Stop doing that!" Just like that. "So, who's the brat?" Naruto knelt down to get a better look at the person hiding behind his friend's leg. Sasuke gently nudged the child forward. Naruto blinked. "HOLY SHIT! GAARA!" He fell on his behind from the surprise.

"He's not Gaara. He just… looks like him, as far as I can tell. Do you suppose he's his son?" the raven-haired jounin inquired. The boy began to suck his thumb nervously while the other hand fiddled with the bracelets on the opposite wrist.

Naruto regarded the boy carefully, eyes squinting as was his habit. The kid was almost a dead on copy but… Gaara? A dad? Impossible. Even though Naruto had seen first hand how caring Gaara was with his niece and nephew it still didn't seem that he'd go off and become a dad himself. Well, that's was what Naruto thought at least.

The children of the Hokage jogged over after their father fell down to examine what was going on. Even Hinata rose and glided over to get a better look. She put her hand over her mouth when she saw the boy. "Oh goodness. He looks like Gaara-san, doesn't he?"

Everyone nodded. "So, what's your name, kid?" Naruto asked standing up. The boy opened his mouth to speak but Sasuke clasped his hand over it.

"He doesn't have one."

"Hm?…Okay… Is he …lost?"

"Mmm, that's where it gets tricky. He said that he made 'the demon' come out and that he ran anway," Sasuke explained. The boy cringed at this.

"Demon?" Naruto looked at him. The boy looked up at the two towering men staring down on him and poofed into a little puppy again looking for a place to scuttle away to. However, upon seeing this, the three Uzumaki children immediately seized his tiny fluffy body.

Inari took him bodily. "He's mine. I'm the oldest!"

Awaji grabbed a tail. "He's mine. I saw him first!"

Tora grabbed the remained tail. "Leave him alone, you'll hurt him!" And thusly a fight ensued over who was the most correct.

Hinata clapped her hands together making a loud noise that stopped the arguing. "He is no one's," she declared. She walked over and took the puppy, his eyes swirling. She set him down and he immediately turned back rubbing his bottom. He looked over at the children with fear and hid behind Hinata. "They're just excited to meet a new friend. Hmmm, what should we call you?" He gave her a depressed looked. "Well, you look so sad.. So how about Ochikomu or just Ochi for short." (Ochikomu is 'to be depressed'.) The child shrugged. "That sounds good."

She looked at his clothes. They were old and tattered with holes all over them not to mention they look like they had never seen a washing before. The only thing decent on him were the bracelets around his wrists and ankles and the earrings in his ear. "You're filthy. Let's get you a bath."

"Does that mean you're going to lick me? I hate it when Mommy does that," he groaned.

Hinata giggled and took his hand, leading him away. "No. I won't lick you."

"Then how are you going to bathe me?" he asked confused.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well… I guess she'll take care of him for a while. I'll find out about this demon." Sasuke nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes. We have about three months worth of mission reports to go through," he stated bluntly. "Let's get started." The young Hokage sighed deeply. There would be no escape this time.

Hinata poured a bucket of water over the boys head. The water in the tub was filthy. His hair took on a new glossy shine now that it was clean. He even looked healthier, she noted. "These bracelets are very nice but we should take them off." She tried to slip one off but it staunchly refused to move past his wrist. Even the larger items which should have come off easily seemed to shrink when she tug on the.

"You can't take them off," Ochi noted after a few tries. "My mommy has them too." Hinata stared at the peculiar jewelry, considering using her byakugan but decided to save it for later.

Instead she helped him out of the tub. "Well then, we're all done, now to dry off."

"Got it!" He got down on his hands and knees but before Hinata could stop him he had begun to shake like a dog. She tried to shield herself with her hands. "Dry!"

She chuckled, flinging water from her hands. "Well, I think a towel should finish it." Grabbing a fluffy white towel from a pile by the bathtub, she began to dry him off. He was absolutely an adorable child, she thought, drying his hair, but his eyes looked so full of pain and sadness. It was no way for such a young child to look. She remember herself before Naruto and sighed with a shake of her head.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked meekly.

"Of course not! I think you're a lot of fun, little Ochi," she responded with a warm smile. She gave his button nose a little pinch and wrapped the towel around him. "Let's find you some new clothes."

"What's wrong with my old clothes?" he inquired looking at the pile of them in the garbage.

"They're too dirty and worn out."

She took him to a room with an chest in it. It was labeled 'Old clothes'. "What's that?" the young boy pulled out a pair of pants and sniffed them.

"I think that Awaji was about your size when he was your age so, we're going to find you some of his clothes. Sound like fun?" The boy smiled and she noticed two tails wagging from behind him. He gave a nod, smiling.

Naruto was sitting in his office looking like he was being slowly tortured by Sasuke's drawl. The Uchiha flipped another page. "But since we had a lot of chuunin out last month, we had an imbalance of-"

"We're finished," Hinata called out opening the door. Naruto was never happier to see his wife. He hopped over the desk and sat on it's edge.

"Heeeey, there's my beautiful wife!"

"You can finish your meeting with Sasuke after I show you Ochi's new look," she stated giving Sasuke a knowing nod. Naruto looked aghast.

"Some wife! You're supposed to help me out sometimes!"

"Well, you are Hokage, Naruto. Ochi!" She stood aside and clasped her fingers in front of her. The boy walked in, his thumb in his mouth. He wore a long black t-shirt with a long sleeved fishnet shirt underneath and long black pants the stopped above black sandals, and Hinata had taken a long strip of white cloth with red triangles on the bottom and fashioned a sash out of it, making him look very much like a certain Sand ninja.

Sasuke's and Naruto's jaws dropped. "You have a sick mind, Hinata," the Uchiha commented. She just smiled sweetly.

Naruto grabbed a brush from his table and dipped it in some red paint. "I know just what he needs too. Come here, Ochi. I'm going to right 'love' on your forehead." Hinata put a hand on Ochi's head before he could walk over.

"Narutoooo…" she warned, shaking a finger at him.

"What? You're the one who dressed him up like that!" he protested.

She chuckled and nudged Ochi outside the door. "Enjoy your meeting, dear." Naruto groaned and dragged his feet as he sat down in his chair. Hinata blew him a kiss then shut the door.

"As I was saying-"

"DON'T YOU EVER TAKE A BREAK?"

Sasuke approached the home of Shikamaru and Temari and was just about to knock on the door when it swung open. Naruto ordered him to tell the Nara's that there was a tiny clone of Gaara running around Konoha. Temari gave him a hug when she opened the door, looking worried. "Have you had any reports of a lost little boy that-"

"Looks like Gaara?" Sasuke scratched the back of his head. "I found him on my porch. He currently with Naruto, safe and sound."

Temari looked relieved. "We were so worried. Shikamaru went out to look for him but he just came back."

"Can I come in? I want to know what's going on," he stated firmly.

Ochi, as the young boy was now called, barely missed the fist aimed at his skull. He slid under Awaji's leg and jumped aside as Inari tried to pounce on him. He was grinning madly at the game called "Ninja Tag".

"Wow, he's fast," Awaji commented panting. "But he won't escape this." He grabbed a few stun bombs from his pocket and threw them at Ochi.

The boy took a few steps back but he couldn't stop himself from inhaling some of the smoke. His body tingled and he noticed the movement was harder. He held his breath and ran from the smoke to clear air. He soon realized that he was captured by his shirt.

Ochi looked up and almost fainted. It was Inuzuka Kiba grasping his collar. The ninja did not look at all pleased to see him. Ochi could not keep himself from shaking. He wanted to run but the stun gas would not allow his legs to move.

Kiba leaned down to the child's ear. "I know what you are and I've got my eye on you, brat." He stood up and put his hands in his pockets as he walked passed him. Akamaru paused and looked between Kiba and the boy but followed his friend and master.

"Mmm, Kiba," came Akamaru's gruff voice. Kiba didn't turn around. "Is he really dangerous? I mean-"

"Don't trust him, Akamaru. Don't forget why our family fought to put his kind away."

Akamaru turn his head to look back and nodded. "He's only half."

"That's enough."

In the shadows a familiar blond ninja watch his subordinate walk away with his dog. Naruto stepped from the darkness and looked to his children. They were comforting the frightened Ochi. It was obvious that there was more to the story. Sasuke would find out the facts but now Naruto wanted to hear them for himself.

His timing was impeccable. The Naras were just sitting down for dinner. The Hokage sucked down another bowl of ramen in dining room. "So we should send him back to the Sand Village. It's not that I don't want him here, it just that if his father is really Gaara then we'll most likely find him in Sand Village than here."

Temari sighed. "But sometimes Gaara doesn't even return there for months."

"But Kankurou is Kazekage and gives him his missions. He'll come back for those and that's when we'll catch him," Sasuke reminded.

At that moment Fumi returned carrying Ochi on her back. He waved weakly as she grinned. "So what's going on?"

"Naruto says we should take him to Sand," Temari answered.

"I think it's a good idea," Shikamaru stated with a sigh. He set his bowl down. "This is going to sound a little heartless but if what Kiba said is right and the boy is really an oni then we can't keep him here in the village. He can be Sand's little problem if he goes demon."

"You're right. That is heartless. You've seen him. He only reacts to the blood!" Temari snapped, icily

Shikamaru sighed. "And that's a big problem in a ninja village, isn't it?"

Naruto smiled and stood up. "I wasn't thinking like that at all, Shikamaru. I just wanted Ochi to find his dad and become happy. I don't care if he has seven demons or if he's a demon himself. I like him and I want him to be happy."

Ochi listened in silence until Naruto spoke and blushed slightly. "Thank you, Uncle Naruto Hokage-sama…san…" he responded.

"Wow, that was too much. Just call me…Uncle Naruto." He grinned and tousled Ochi's hair. "Well, that's my order. You two are to escort this boy to Sunagakure no Sato and hand him over to Sabaku no Gaara."

"Understood," they said in unison.

"And furthermore….I want two more bowls of ramen."

"Stop trying to eat me out of house and home!"

"Stop disobeying your Hokage!"

Shikamaru and Naruto glared at each other. In the end, Shikamaru sighed in defeat. "I'll treat you to Ichiraku. Put it on my tab….ONLY TWO BOWLS!" he called out to the fleeing Hokage. "Geez, that guy is going to bankrupt me."


	7. Chapter 7

Even condensed this one turned out to be rather short. I couldn't flesh it out much more.

* * *

Chapter 7: Kidnapped and United

Mokumaru sat behind his house practicing with his father. Kankurou was teaching him to use Karasu, having taken out most of the dangerous elements and leaving the shell.

"You're doing pretty good. Since you're my boy, you learn quickly," he praised as Mokumaru managed to make Karasu raise his arm and wave.

"I'm only learning quickly because you're my teacher. You're the best ninja in this entire village. I want to become the best ninja and serve Kazekuni as Kazekage too." Mokumaru looked over to his father and smiled. "I guess what I'm saying is that I want to be just like you, Dad."

Kankurou tried to look solemn. "Well, you have to work hard. I didn't get here by being lazy. Concentrate!"

Karasu's head lolled forward as Mokumaru saluted his father. "Yessir! Oops..." he quickly reattached the strings of chakra.

A ninja approached Kankurou and bowed. "Sir, Temari and her family are here. Shall I escort them to the guest rooms or bring them to you?"

"Eh? Temari? No bring them here." The ninja nodded and soon Temari was approaching looking tired. Kankurou didn't hide his happiness. Mokumaru stopped practicing long enough to wave. Fumi waved back exuberantly.

Wiping sweat from her eyes, Temari stopped and sat down on the ground. "I've forgotten how hot this place can get sometimes. I bet I dropped ten pounds just from sweating."

Kankurou scoffed. "That's what you get for staying away for so long. Would it kill you to visit more often?" He looked down and Fumi who was making faces at her cousin. "Hey, little princess. Have you been behaving?"

"Yes!" "No" The father and daughter said at the same time. Shikamaru looked down and she looked up at him. There was electricity between their gazes. They turned away at the same time, scowling.

The Kazekage chuckled and looked at the new boy. "And who's………………………………."

"Hello," the boy piped, with a smile.

"Holy shit! Gaara?"

Temari stepped in front of the boy. "And that's why we're here. _You_," she jabbed her finger at him. "have to find Gaara. We suspect this little boy is his son."

Mokumaru walked over and patted the boy on his shoulder. "Long time no see, kid! I hope Fumi's been taking care of you."

"Oh, Fumi-neesan is very nice. We play together everyday. She lets me play with sharp things," he added proudly."

"Yeah, dork. I'm very nice." She stuck out her tongue. "Now, where's uncle Gaara?"

Kankurou knelt down to look at the boy. "He left on a mission a while ago. I expect him back any day now." The boys shaggy brown hair almost fell in his eyes. The eyes... They were the same though the child's were bright and wild. Still... "Let's go inside. I don't want the villagers seeing him."

He led them inside the large house and to his office. Temari and Shikamaru explained everything to him, Fumi and Mokumaru stepping in at their portion to explain. Kankurou looked surprised at the report about him turning into a demon.

"Nnnn, just when I thought my work load was getting easier… If he is Gaara's brat, that might explain the demon. But what I don't get is-" There was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Kirae, without her mask and Anbu uniform stepped in. "Kazekage-sama, I-" She looked down at Gaara's alleged son. He immediately looked down at his sandals, curling his toes anxiously. "I just wanted to say, I won't be available for a few months. Is that okay?"

"Sure but first do you know where Gaara is? I know I sent him out a while ago but he hasn't returned and we got a little problem…"

She smiled kindly. "Is it the boy? I couldn't help but to notice the resemblance."

"Yeah."

"Say no more. Can I take him for a few minutes? Just to talk, maybe he knows something."

Kankurou considered the boy for a few minutes and shrugged. "I don't see why not. Go ahead."

"Come on, little one. Let's get you something to eat someplace else for a while," she held out her hand to him. The boy looked up sadly and obediently took her hand. She walked him out the door, shutting it quietly. She walked a short way from the door and grabbed a fist fully of Ochi's hair, yanking it back. Her face because twisted and ugly as her demon aspect began to show. "Scream and I'll destroy this entire village, including your worthless friends in there. Did you really think that you could run from me?" Aiki whimpered. "Transform. We're escaping."

A maid carrying towels give a surprised yelp as a wolf and cub barreled down the hallway past her. The Kazekage slouched in his seat. "Well, I guess we just wait. Gaara won't just pop up because we want him to. If anyone can find him though, it's Kirae."

Temari nodded in agreement and fiddled with Fumi's clothes. She noticed her daughter looking contemplative. "Don't worry, Fumi. We'll find Gaara."

"No, it's not that. I don't like that woman, mom," she stated plainly. "She's creepy."

Mokumaru nodded in agreement. "I don't think little guy likes her either. He got all nervous when she came in."

Shikamaru looked at the door. "Is she a good friend of Gaara's?"

Kankurou nodded. "They always go out on missions together. At least they did but she disappeared for a while. She just returned recently. One of my best Anbu, I trust her with a lot of important missions." He put his hand on Mokumaru's head to reassure him.

"Anbu…" Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "She was at our house once. Kiba was yelling at her… Now that I think about it, when we first saw that boy…"He recalled the anbu with the wolf mask, Kiba shouting at Kirae, then when he warned them about the boy, and the child's demon form. "Shit! Impossible!"

Temari looked confused at him. "What is it?"

"She's the kid's mother!" He jumped out of his chair and rushed to the door. "We can't let her take him!"

"What are you talking about?" Temari demanded. Everyone stared at Shikamaru.

"Think. Kiba was yelling at her right? Kiba also knew that the boy was oni. Then, when were in that battle an Anbu woman can and abucted him right? The only Anbu woman that was consistently showed up when this kid was involved has been her! She's the oni! She's his mother!"

"No way," Kankurou said shaking his head. "Gaara would have said something. He doesn't keep secrets from me."

Temari bowed her head. "But what if he felt like he could relate to her. He wouldn't tell you if it meant she'd have to leave Sand."

Kankurou wanted to slam his head on the desk but resisted and instead he clenched his fists. "I'll put the ninja on alert. You guys go after her!" Temari and Shikamaru disappeared suddenly. Kankurou rang a bell on his desk and a dozen ninja were in front of him. "Find the Anbu Kirae! Bring her and the child she has with her here immediately." The ninja nodded and also disappeared with quickness.

Mokumaru looked at his dad. "I want to help. If we stopped her once then-"

His father shook his head. "Stay here out of the way. This isn't a game!" He began to slip out of his heavy robes and took of his hat. Underneath he was the same old Kankurou, only without the hood. "Take care of things here until I get back." He walked out grabbing Kurokumo from his closet, since Karasu was little more than a toy in his practice state.

Fumi sighed after Kankurou left. "Why do they treat us like babies? We're the ones the saved him from her the first time."

When Gaara returned to the city, it was alive with ninja dashing all over in search of someone. He thought to ask one of them what was going on but decided against it. Whatever it was Kankurou would fill him in on it. He put his hands in the pocket of his vest and continued.

"Gaara!" His name was called in three separate directions. He looked around lazily. Kankurou was in front of him, but as a shinobi not as Kazekage. Temari and Shikamaru landed on either side.

"Temari? Shikamaru? What are you doing here?" He looked between each of them. Kankurou stepped forward and grabbed Gaara by the collar, something he loved to do when administering 'a scolding', at least to Gaara.

"I thought we were close! Why didn't you tell me that Kirae was a demon? And did you just forget you had a son!" he shouted into his younger brother's face.

Gaara pulled his shirt from Kankurou's fist, glaring at him as he wiped a drop of spit from his cheek. "We _are_ close, I don't have a son, and I didn't think it would matter," he answered. He felt Temari put her hand on his shoulder.

"You do have a son Gaara. I believe it!" Temari urged.

"How sure can you be he's even mine?"

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Red hair little brat rolls up with black rings around his eyes, he's definitely not one of mine!"

"Lots of people have red hair and black eyes come from not sleeping a day in my life. Anyone could that. I'm only twenty percent sure he's mine," Gaara said gruffly.

"Well," began Shikamaru, "He does turn into a demon uncontrollably when he sees blood."

There was a brief silence. "Forty percent, still-"

"His face. Do you remember when you were little, that face you made when you were when you were sad?" Kankurou and Temari both made an exaggerated puppy dog face. "He does that _all_ the time."

Gaara glared at them both for teasing him. "Fuck you guys."

"Look, the last time Kirae and I were together it was about five years ago. I can't possibly have a son."

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Gaara, the kid is about five. He has a special power to change into a wolf demon but that's not it… It's that he reveals the Shukaku eye when he does it."

"… I'm still not one hundred percent sure that he's mine," the Sand-user continued saying. Inside he was firmly sure that the child was not his. He couldn't be a father even if he wanted to. It's just something that did not compute in his mind.

Kankurou slapped his hand on his forehead. "I hate to interrupt but she's getting away while we're arguing. She took him about an hour ago. She could already be out of the village."

Gaara shook his head. "Probably not. But if she's feeling desperate she can escape easily. Look for a big brown wolf and cub. It should be pretty obvious to spot. They'll be wearing jewelry because they-"

"Aren't normal wolves," Shikamaru finished. Gaara nodded and took off. The others did the same.

Gaara's mind milled over what was said but still he couldn't comprehend it. It was impossible from him to have a child. Why would Kirae hide that from him? One day, she had snapped and attacked him for no reason and since then they had avoided each other until she finally left the village. The kid could be anyone's, he resolved.

He landed on top of a building and looked down into an alleyway. A large wolf growled up at him. "Kirae, you can't escape the village. I won't let you take the boy either. So what will you do?" The wolf continued to growl for a few minutes, drool dripping from her mouth. She dropped her head, taking the cub in her mouth and jumped up. Bouncing between the two walls of a building she made it to the top of the roofs and began to run. A wall of sand rose before her, cutting her path off.

"You can't escape," Gaara said behind her. He was floating on a sand cloud, arms crossed. He thought he saw Kirae smirk before she slung her head throwing the cub off the building. She whipped her tails creating a wall of wind and jumped off the sand wall to the opposite side to make her escape.

The wind blinded Gaara momentarily, before he realized the he could only either capture Kirae or save the boy. On the streets the below a giant hand of sand burst from the ground and caught the shivering puppy. He sighed and peered across the landscape. He could leave the boy alone and pursue her but curiousity prevailed. Gaara descended to the ground beside the hand. The puppy sat up and turned into a little boy with black rimmed eyes, tears streaked down his dirty face.

Gaara caught his breath. "…One hundred...per..cent sure." Kankurou landed beside him.

"Where's-"

"Gone." Gaara's eyes were fixed on the child before him.

"Pretty amazing, huh? He looks just like you."

The boy struggled to climb down off the hand but it simply dispelled, placing him gently on the ground. He dusted himself off then looked up at Gaara. "Thank you for saving me but-…"

"…"

The boy stared at Gaara for a moment. He tilted his head right and left, the cogs in his brain working. He gingerly walked over and gave Gaara's hand a deep sniff. Then, he grinned and bounced a little. Two tails snaked from under his shirt and wolfen ears replaced his human ones. "You smell like me and Auntie Temari and Uncle Kankurou! You're my daddy!" He looked down, blushing. "Oh um… Pleased to meet you." He bowed. Kankurou grinned and slapped his brother on the shoulder proudly.

Gaara swallowed and took step a back, unsure. "Don't… mention it."

The son of the Sand ninja, grinning so hard his cheeks turned pink, latched onto Gaara's hand. "Everyone calls me 'Gaara' sometimes. Is that your name? I don't mind being called Gaara then."

The chattering kindergartener attached to his hand, made Gaara feel nervous. " … Let's… return to the Kazekage's." He retrieved his hand from the boy and walked away. Kankurou blinked, somewhat surprised at his brother's nonchalance. The boy however was unphased, he followed behind Gaara, skipping and hopping, as he continued to discuss the last five years of his life.

Kankurou immediately called off the search assuming the Kirae was long gone. Gaara was standing outside, doing his best to ignore the boy beside him. When Temari and Shikamaru arrived, Gaara' s sister immediately hugging him tightly.

"You found him!"

"…Yeah."

She knelt down and the boy jumped into her arms. "He saved me! With a giant hand made out of sand. Mommy threw me off and I thought I was going to die but then WHOOSH! All this sand just grabbed me. Oh! Mommy got away but that's all right, right?"

Temari smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's fine. You're with us now and your father won't let anything happen to you." She looked up at Gaara. He had no expression. He was hiding his feelings again. "Gaara are you okay with this?"

He didn't answer. He crossed his arms and turned to Kankurou as he came down. "What is the situation?"

"Hm? There is no situation. Kirae's probably long gone. Besides, we got what we wanted."

Gaara shrugged. "Then I'm going. I'll leave the kid with you Kankurou. You can take the cost of raising him out of my pay."

He began to walk away when the Kazekage grabbed him by the back of the shirt pulling him back. "No way. You're not ditching this responsibility. You made him. He's yours. You take care of him."

"I don't know anything about being a father. I never had one," he scoffed. "Or did you forget?"

Kankurou growled. "Don't get pissy with me, Gaara. It's not easy but it's not going to kill you to try. You've babysat Mokumaru and Fumi plenty of times. So don't act clueless." He let of Gaara's shirt. "Besides, look at him. He thinks you're the coolest thing next to breathing."

Gaara attempted a sidelong glance at his son, the boy was curiously poking his gourd and sash. "No. I'll just screw him up. You take care of him for me."

Temari got in his face. "No! You won't screw him up like Dad, Gaara. You could never be that heartless but if you leave him you'll be worst than our father. Stop being this way! Of course, we'll help you."

Gaara took a deep breath and looked down again. His son looked up and smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorelina, you're right. The percentages were a part I liked too. So…I put them back in! . . shakes hands

Chapter 8: Betrayal, Gaara's Painful Mistake

Gaara sat in the dark library, near the window, staring at the night sky. It was a nice place to get away and think. It was where he relaxed when he was in the Sand Village with nothing to do. The boy, his son, was with his cousins playing. He groaned and thought about his childhood in light of his new situation. Yashamaru took care of him but in the end he didn't really _care_ for him. He didn't love him and that in the end devastated his life.

The red-haired ninja of Suna ran his hands up and down his head. Just because he could babysit didn't mean he could raise a child. It was tantamount to saying that anyone could be Kazekage. He had no idea what to do. He suddenly realized that he hated Kirae for seducing him and getting pregnant, then for being insane and dumping the kid on him.

He closed his eyes for a few moments when he felt something warm in his lap. He looked down and two warm green eyes laced in brown were looking up. They remind him of Kirae's- that wild streak. "Hello, Daddy. Why are you in this dark room by yourself?"

Gaara shifted his weight uncomfortably. "…I come here to think."

"About what?"

"…Things." The boy tilted his head curiously. "I guess, I don't know how to take care of you…" he finally admitted.

The boy tilted his head the other way now. "Well, I can take care of myself, you know. I can hunt and Aunt Hinata-sama showed me how to take a bath."

Gaara blinked. "You didn't know how to take a bath?" The boy shook his head. "Well, you don't have to hunt. I…can cook."

"Good! Can I do something too?"

"Like what?"

The boy crawled over to the seat next Gaara and sat there. He blushed and swung his feet tucked snuggly in teddy bear slippers. "Whatever you need me to do, I'll do my best to do it. I just want you to be happy with me… I promise…I'll be a good boy." He looked up, smilling.

"…" Gaara stood up and put his hand on the boy's head. "So what does Kirae call you?"

The boy shook his head. "I don't like any of the names she calls me. Aunt Temari calls me Puppy and Uncle Naruto-Hokage-sama calls me Ochi but…" He paused for a long time to fiddle with his bracelets. "I only care about what you want to call me." He stood up on the chair. "I know you'll love me. You're not like Mommy at all. She was...always calling me names and hitting me. So that's why I want to know what you will call me, Daddy!"

Gaara swallowed and patted the boy on the head. "I'll think about it."

Temari tucked Fumi into bed and closed the door. She almost screamed when turned around and Gaara was there staring at her. "Geez, I hated when you used to do that to me when we were kids. What's wrong?"

"I can't do it."

"Can't do what?"

"I can't raise the boy. I'll screw him up."

"What? Oh, will you shut up. You'll do fine. Just love him like…well…your son and you'll be fine," she consoled him, patting him on the shoulder. He didn't look convinced.

"No. You don't understand, Temari. He looks at me like I'm the only thing that matters."

"He's had such a hard time, Gaara. His mother treated him like trash and he's never known the love of a parent. You _are_ the only thing that matters."

Gaara stared at her. "I'm going to screw him up just like Dad with me, Temari."

"SHU-" she looked at Fumi's door. "Shut up. Just calm down. Panicking doesn't suit you. Give it some time and you'll get over this sudden fear. I'm going to bed and you should…" She paused. "You should relax somewhere. I'll see you in the morning."

Temari swung open the door to her bedroom and waved goodnight to Gaara before shutting the door in his face. With a sigh, Gaara turned his sights to his brother, who was actually a dad and should be more helpful.

"What? You will not, so shut up." Kankurou gave his little brother a funny look when he repeated his sentiments about being a father.

"Kankurou…"

"Look, raising boys is easy. You just look tough, give 'em a few hugs, tell them that you're proud of them, and they'll do just fine. My boy wants to grow up to be me, after all."

Gaara crossed his arms. "My ... boy…" the words felt strange coming out of his mouth. "That kid already idolizes me. I'm not worried about that. And I _don't _want him to grow up and become me."

Kankurou put up a few scrolls. "Just don't be an asshole, like Dad was and you'll be fine."

"I am an asshole."

"I said don't be an asshole like Dad. Dad was a cruel, heartless, and power hungry. You're not like that, are you?"

Gaara quirked his brow dubiously. "Uh...heartless?"

"Shut up, heartless and emotionless are too different things." Kankurou sat down at his desk. "Stop worrying. My kid loves you and so does Fumi. They think you're 'cool'. You'll do fine. Go to bed…or whatever you do."

"But-"

"I'm busy, Gaara."

"But-"

"Paperwork doesn't do itself, Gaara."

"But-"

"Shut up, Gaara."

The youngest of the Sand Siblings rolled his eyes and left the office. Neither of his siblings were any help. Standing in the hallway looking at him with those adoring eyes was his son. In his extreme emotion, his demon side expressed itself in his perked wolf ears and wagging twin tails that caused a slight breeze. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I can't sleep."

"Yeah, I know how that is." Gaara rubbed the back of his head. The child followed him as he walked down the hallway. In spite of it being late, it seemed he still had a lot of energy as he skipped down the hall and tried to walk in step with his father. "What if I lied in bed with you?"

"I'd like that," the boy answered, taking his father's hand. "Do you want to go to the library and think too?"

Gaara shook his head. "Later. My head hurts."

"Can I make it better?"

"No, that's all right." The boy opened the door to the room he was assigned and ran to the bed, jumping into it. Gaara lied next to him, the tiny body snuggled close. He lied like that for a few hours until he noticed that his son was in a deep a sleep. His mouth was wide open, a bit of drool leaking out of the corner of his mouth. His rolled over shoved a bracelet in his mouth, sucking on the cold metal. Gaara smiled for a moment then frowned. He thought about his father and hoped that he wouldn't be like him. He attempted to sneak out of bed but the child had his sash firmly in his grip. Trapped, he lied back down and stared at the ceiling.

The next morning, Gaara sat in the bathroom and tested the warmth of the water in the bathtub. The steam rising from the surface looked inviting and he slipped right in. He closed his eyes to relax. It turned out that his son had a unique sleeping style: all over the place. More than once he removed a foot from his face or rescued him from slipping off the bed. He wondered if Kankurou would consider it a D-rank mission for all the work it was.

The doorknob rattled. "I'm in here," he snapped. The rattling stopped but he could still see the shadow of feet underneath the door. He waited for just a few moments before calling out, "Who is it?"

"Um… me?" replied an unmistakable voice.

A tendril of sand snaked up the door and flipped the lock open. "Come in." The boy slunk in and shut the door behind him. "So you woke up?"

"I fell out of bed," he explained pointing to the red mark on his forehead. He noted Gaara soaking in the hot water and began stripping.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" But it was too late, he had jumped in the bath with him. They stared at each other for a second until Gaara sighed and closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. If he ignored him maybe he would sit quietly and let him relax.

The nameless boy entertained himself for a while but quickly became bored. "Father?" Gaara opened an eye. "Have you ever seen a typoon or a tsunami?"

"Made of water? No," he answered honestly. Made of sand? That was different but he didn't press the issue.

The boy leaned forward, an impish smiled tugging at his cheeks. "Well, a typhoon is like this." He flicked wet fingers at Gaara's face, spattering droplets on his cheeks. But a tsunami… is like this!" He leaned back and splashed Gaara with a large wave, and getting everything wet.

For a second, Gaara was annoyed and thought to reprimand him but his son started laughing. He looked over to the dripping wet boy holding his stomach as he laughed. At that age, Gaara never laughed like that. Even at his age now, he never laughed so genuinely. Protect that laugh, something inside him said, at all costs. Gaara climbed out of the water and lent a hand to his son and helped him out.

Gaara opened the door after dressing and walked out, his clothes a little wet from the 'tsunami'. His sister passed them both and blinked. "What happened to you guys?"

"Bad weather," Gaara answered cryptically and walked past her. The half-demon child covered his mouth and giggled as he followed. As they walked down the hallway, the boy noticed something about his father. He always had his arms crossed and he always looked so mad. To anyone else, that face and posture would be enough to make them take another path, but to him it was funny. His mother was far more intimidating than Gaara, and far meaner. The half-demon crossed his arms and tried to mimic the completely dissatisfied look that Gaara always seemed to manage so easily. He fell in step with him and marched along quietly.

At some point, Gaara noticed the serenity that had not been around since his son arrived had returned. He looked down to what looked to be a reflection of himself but only a fifth of his age. He stopped in his step and looked down with confusion. The boy looked up at him, trying to be severe but he smiled and covered his mouth to hide the laughter that inevitably wanted to escape. Protect that happiness, Gaara thought to himself.

"Do I have a funny face?" he asked sternly. The boy fearlessly nodded. Gaara smiled a little and took a quick look around. They were standing on the porch of the backyard. There were a few chuunin guarding the entrances to various places but they didn't seem to be paying them any attention, engaged in their own discussions. Gaara looked down at the curious boy and stuck his tongue out quickly before reentering a brisk walk, as if to escape the reality of his actions before they caught up with him. The boy blinked then snickered as he ran to catch up.

"Father? What's my name?" The Sand shinobi sighed deeply. He hadn't given it much thought. Puppy was still what Temari and the others called him but to Gaara, it was inappropriate.

"I don't know yet but I'm still thinking about it," he answered. This pacified the boy until they reached the city streets. "If this is where we're going to live then you might as well get used to it." The though crossed Gaara's mind that he would take his son on his journeys but somehow he didn't expect neither Temari nor Kankurou to let him get away with that. He would just have to live like a normal person, in a house, and in Sunagakure. Kankurou is going to work me to death, he thought wryly.

In the city, Gaara took his newly acquired child around to various places: to a bakery where he had his firsrt bit of cake, to the pet store where he carried on a conversation with the caged dogs, to the park where he got to ride Gaara's shoulder and got a balloon. Those that were familiar with Gaara were shocked into silence when they found out he had a child. They weren't any nicer but their expressions were a nice addition to his good mood. When they returned to the Kazekage's home, the little clone was ripping dango from skewers. Fumi and Mokumaru pounced him and took a few pieces.

"HEY!" he shouted.

"Taxes!" Fumi explained licking her fingers. Mokumaru nodded. "We're going to do some training? What to come along?"

The nameless boy tilted his head. "Training?" He looked up when he felt Gaara's hand on his head.

"Go on. I need to do some work," he began. "I'll meet up with you later." The boy nodded and went with his cousins.

Fumi leaned on her fan. Mokumaru was explaining their kind of training to Puppy. "Since you're a part of this prestigious family… you have to train all the time. It's so you can protect the family and village whenever we have to. I take care of Sunagakure and Fumi takes care of Konohagakure. Since Uncle Gaara is a Suna ninja, you work for me."

The boy tilted his head. "But I want to protect both…"

"Then you'll have to work twice as hard. So… you need a weapon. I use Yo-yos." He tossed the toy a few times to illustrate "Fumi-" The girl smiled and waved. "Uses everything but her specialty is fans. So pick a weapon," He pointed to a pile of weapons that he and Fumi-most of them were Fumi's- had gathered.

Puppy examined them closely. "What does Daddy use?" The tips of his tails twitched as he investigated the array of sharp weapons. His mother had carried such weapons with her but he never dared to get close enough to inspect them. He picked up a kunai and poked his finger with the point. "Ow." He tossed it down disliking that particular weapon greatly.

"Sand. But that's because of the Shukaku demon sealed inside of him," his cousin explained.

The boy smiled and stood up. "He has a demon, too?"

They both nodded. "Gaara can't be hurt because the sand protects him automatically. That's why he's the number one best ninja in the village...beside my Dad, that is."

"Sand... Well, if he can do that then I'll use dirt."

The shaggy haired boy looked dubious. "You can control dirt?"

Puppy extended his hand over a patch of ground and a small area lifted up and hovered in front of them. "Yes I can..."

Both of the older kids were surprised. "Wow, he can really do it," Fumi exclaimed. Mokumaru rubbed his eyes in disbelief. She punched her cousin in the arm. "Being part oni sure has it's good points."

Mokumaru rubbed his chin as he considered the hovering clod of earth. "Well…I guess we can let you do that. It'll be interesting at least. So, anyway, let's just start. The object is to get hit the least amount of times in five minutes." He held a sand timer in his hand. "You have to do your best or you'll get hit. And you can't just run and hide either, or no one will win. You gotta attack. Got it?" The boy nodded.

Fumi gave him a wink. "Best defense is a better offense."

Mokumaru flipped the timer over and dashed backwards. "Start!"

Gaara sat on the edge of Kankurou's desk as he helped his brother sort through his massive paper work. Not much was said between them but the older man could sense that something was changing about the ninja sitting just a few feet away from him. "Bond with your brat today?" he asked nonchalantly as he stared at a report. The sound of shuffling paper continued. He snuck a look at Gaara, his brother didn't seem to be paying him much mind. "I said-"

"I heard you," Gaara intercepted. He put a stack down on the floor and began working on another. Kankurou put the paper down and grumbled. "And yes, I did."

"And?"

"And what?"

Kankurou snatched the stapler out of Gaara's hand and held it out of his reach. "And how did it go? God, do I have to spell everything out for you?" He knew well and good that Gaara didn't want to talk about whatever it was that he had done but Kankurou didn't care what _Gaara_ wanted. That's just the kind of brother he was.

The younger ninja sighed. "I want to protect him." He slipped off of the desk. "So that he won't become me, I'll protect him." He began to walk away.

Kankurou smiled a little until he realized the only willing help he had was leaving. "Hey, we're not done yet!"

"Not my problem," Gaara answered back, "_Kazekage-sama_."

"Tch. Still a fucking brat!"

Fumi swung her fan at Mokumaru but as he ducked he retaliated by throwing out a yo-yo and grabbing her ankle. He pulled hard and sent her tumbling to the ground. The entire time, Puppy watched placidly uncertain what to do. Honestly, he was afraid. No of being hit but that he'd hurt someone. He placed his thumb in his mouth and watched.

Fumi pounced next to him and backflipped out of the way of a yo-yo. Mokumaru finally noticed Puppy and throw a yo-yo to hit him in the head but a wall of sand blocked it. They boy blinked and poked the wall curiously.

"Did I do that?"

"No." Gaara stood over him. "Maybe, you're too young to play this game. You'll get hurt."

Puppy dropped his head. _It's so we can protect the family and village whenever we have to._ He looked back up, an unconvincing smile on his lips. "I can do it. I played Ninja Tag with the Uzumakis all right." He walked around the wall and held out his hands.

Mokumaru nodded and flung a yo-yo at him but the boy caught it, though it stung his hands. However, the older boy smirked and twitched his finger the yo-yo turned into a small explosion. Puppy yelped, shaking his hand. Determined to show his father that he could fight with the best of them, he put his hands on the ground. The earth began to crack and as Fumi was just about to finish off her cousin, she lost her footing and fell into a small crater. Puppy panted then jumped back to avoid a line of shuriken. Fumi was suddenly above him. In the crater, the clone disappeared.

"Hyaah!" She came down and decide to show off her taijutsu abilities. Puppy, however, had the advantage of speed though a punch did connect. "One point, small stuff."

Gaara watched his son fight, something inside of him hoping that he would win the game. Before him stood a tiny life that wanted to please him badly. Gaara wanted him to be victorious for that purpose. He watched intently, arms crossed.

"Don't turn your back, moron!" String wrapped around Fumi's wrist as the moved to throw another punch.

Fumi focused on Puppy, opening her pink fan to the first purple star shape. "I'm going to finish you right now, little puppy!" She swung the fan creating a blade of wind. Gaara was ready to create another sand wall but Puppy jumped to the side. The blade scratched a building.

"Another and an friend for that one!" Fumi swung the fan twice, creating on blade after another.

"Block it with the earth!" Gaara barked.

Puppy growled and whipped him up creating wall to save him. Gaara's yell egged him on. He could tell that his father wanted his victory. Pehaps, if he could do just that, then sadness in Gaara's eyes would be replaced. He burst though the wall he created and kicked her hard in her shoulder sending her across the training ground. Mokumaru stood between him and her suddenly and launched a yo-yo at him. Puppy growled ferociously and caught it, ignoring the pain, letting it fuel him. He dashed forward and released his two-tails. Mokumaru expected to be tackled but the boy jumped over his head and landed behind him. Suddenly a spire of earth shot up and sent Mokumaru flying. But the child of Kazekage was rescued by a cloud of sand.

Gaara snatched Puppy by his collar and shook him. "What's wrong with you? Are you trying to kill them?" he snapped.

"I…I just wanted to win," Puppy stammered confused. Gaara's anger was unlike his mother's but it was also familiar.

"That's not how you train!" He sighed and walked away. "Fumi, Moku. He can't play with you, he's not ready."

"But-" Puppy began to protest but the stern glare for Gaara silenced him. He sat down where he stood and pulled up his knees to his chest. "I did it for you…"

Gaara felt a little guilty as he walked away. He wanted to console him but he didn't know what to say. He stopped and walked back. The boy looked up at him with his sad green eyes watering and his bottom lip quivering. A new feeling welled up inside of Gaara. It was frustrated and irritated by that face. "Don't be a crybaby. It won't solve anything," he said without thinking. The boy hid his face in his arms, and clenched himself into a tighter ball. Gaara stopped breathing. Mokumaru and Fumi stood at a distance stunned. They exchanged glances but neither could explain the sudden change in their uncle.

_The Kazekage stood over young Gaara. He had accidentally killed a bird that was about to be eaten by a cat. "Don't be a crybaby. It's dead so your tears mean nothing. Besides, no one cares about something so weak as a sparrow. With or without you, the outcome would be the same. If you're any kind of son of mine, you'll be the cat and not the bird." Gaara looked up with hatred in his eyes. How could he be so heartless? Was this really his father? The Kazekage sneered and walked away, Kankurou and Temari following, wordlessly._

The jounin of sand, older than that bitter memory, walked away without another word. Mokumaru walked up to his small cousin and patted him on the back. "Don't feel bad. Uncle Gaara didn't mean to be so mean about it. Did you see his face? He was worried about you."

Puppy shook his head without looking up. "No he wasn't. He hates me."

"No, no, no!" Fumi knelt in front of him and forced him to look up. Her expression was adamant, though confused. "What he really meant was you shouldn't be crying but instead you should watch us fight so you can learn and get better."

The younger boy wiped his eyes with his sash. "Do you think it's okay? Can I really watch you fight?"

Fumi stood up and leaned on her fan again. "Of course! Maybe I'll even show you my family's special technique. But only if you don't cry."

The boy wiped his eyes again more vigorously to show that he wasn't crying. "I promise!"

Mokumaru walked over to the timer which had run out and flipped it over. "Okay, one more time!"

Gaara had found Shikamaru lying on the roof staring at the clouds. Now, they were both silently watching the world pass them by. A bird flew by Shikamaru's vision and disrupted previous train of thought. He glanced over to Gaara and noted the complete lack of emotion. "So what's bothering you?" he asked idly.

"I said something stupid to my son," Gaara sighed. "I knew I would screw up."

"Did you apologize?" Gaara shook his head. "Afraid you'd say something stupid again?" He nodded. "Yeah, well…don't do again and you'll be fine."

"But what if I do?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, it might be troublesome but next time, just say sorry. Since sorry is one of the hardest words to say, if you say it to him and mean it, he'll forgive you." Gaara nodded. He looked at his brother-in-law. He really was a genius. Ask him questions and he gives you answers. The sand ninja lied down and decided to watch the clouds with him, arms behind his head.

Mokumaru held his bandaged hand up. He used his bladed yo-yo but caught it incorrectly, stabbing himself. Fumi quickly bandaged it before Puppy could see and they ended practice early. Puppy skipped along behind them holding a flower to give to his father. It was white and smelled sweet. Fumi told him it meant 'forgiveness'. A shadow fell on their path as the sun was setting. The three children looked up to see Kirae looking down on them. The young Nara put her hand on her fan instinctively. "What do you want?" she hissed.

Kirae only stared at her then at Puppy. She reached out to grab him but he hand was immediately trapped by a string of chakra attached to a child's toy. She turned to see Mokumaru using his left hand to fight. "Keep your hands off of him, demon. As the son of Kazekage, I order you to leave Sunagakure no Sato immediately or be persecuted."

The she-demon started to laugh slowly then bellowed loudly, her expression half-crazed. "You?…Order me?" She grabbed the yo-yo and crushed it in her hand. "Foolish human brat. I'll enjoy killing you and your entire village."

All of the children took a step back at this. "You foolishly took this country from my people and I intend to get it back. You're all arrogant little insects that think they can run this world. I'll crush Wind first then I'll destroy Fire. Once those two annoying dominos fall, the rest will crumble easily."

Mokumaru reached into his pocket for a weapon. "I'll never let you do it! I'll protect this country with my life."

There was a loud snap as Fumi spread the fan fully. "And I'll stop you right here. You'll never lay a finger or a claw on my country! I'll kill you right here and make a carpet out of your fur for my Daddy."

Kirae laughed loudly, holding her sides. "How amusing! How interesting! I would really enjoy killing you slowly but I'm afraid I'll have to be more immediate!" Her face abruptly changed into a wolf's with her wild hair falling around her muzzle and yellow eyes. She raised her claws to strike them down when Mokumaru cracked a smile.

"Stop being so arrogant. It really makes you ugly." He closed his fist and five yo-yo's hovered around the demon woman. "_Hanagatabi no jutsu._( Star Fire Technique)." The yo-yo's exploded in bright colors and smoke. "Fumi, I'll hold her off. Take Puppy to Dad and tell him that Kirae-oni is back."

The blonde girl shook her head. She looked back at Puppy who was fixed to his spot, shaking so much his bracelets rattle like a tambourine. She ran over to him and shook him a little. "Puppy, you're faster than all of us. You gotta go find Kazekage and hide. We'll take care of this. Okay?" He gulped and nodded but she wasn't convinced but there was no time. She turned to Kirae. "Kamaitachi!" Fumi unleashed a weaker version of her mother's attack towards the demon, who was still trying to clear the smoke and sparks from her eyes. However, the wolf demon swung her tails and tossed them and the attack backwards.

"Dang it. She uses wind techniques? Looks like you'll get to see my family's special just like I promised. Mo-kun."

The shaggy haired boy saw her join her fingers together in an 'O' shape and nodded. "Understood. Kirae-oni!" He ran away from Fumi's position and pulled out a kunai. "You've got some nerve attacking me like that. Now I'm pissed." He threw it at the demon but Kirae snatched it from the air and threw it back, grazing the boy on his shin.

"You forget, human brat," she snarled. "I am the best Anbu that this village has. I won't be defeated by two children." She tried to raise her hand but couldn't. She looked down to see a shadow stretching from the young Nara.

"I got you, mutt," she jeered. "Puppy, now's a good time to run… I dunno how long I can hold this." The boy nodded a second time but this time he tried to run. He only managed a few feet before he tripped as earth rose from the ground and trapped his foot.

"Don't underestimate my abilities," snarled the demon before them. "As a demon, I can perform jutsu without handseals. All I need is a clear mind."

He struggled to pull his foot out but couldn't, even when he tried to use his own ability to control the ground. "I'm stuck. Mokumaru-sama-" He looked towards his cousin to see him dashing forward with a kunai in hand to slash at the large half-transformed wolf before him, only to be caught in the beast's massive paw and thrown into a building's wall. The impact of his body made a dent in the wall and he slid lifelessly to the ground.

"Mo…MOKUMARU!" Tears welled up in his eyes. He looked back at Fumi who was holding on to his mother's left side, preventing the demon from moving around. Sweat was pouring from her face as she struggled to hold something so much stronger than she.

Puppy pulled at his foot but still couldn't budge. If nothing was done then… "Fumi-sama! Run away!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "Let her capture me. It's okay, I'll be-"

Fumi turned and grinned. "Sorry, kiddo. In Konoha we don't just let our friends and family get captured by demons. We protect them with our lives. That's what it means to be ninja. I just hope they give me an honorary forehead protector." She let her shadow retreat and grabbed her fan. Unexpectedly, she closed the weapon. "…Get Shikamaru, Puppy. Tell him I held the shadow skill for 3 whole minutes before I died." With suprising strength, the hurled the fan at the earth at her cousin's feet, breaking the hold the jutsu had.

Kirae lunged forward. Fumi looked up at the sky and sighed. Better the demon kill her before her parents got to her. The clouds were obscured suddenly by a large furry body. Another wolf demon with black around his middle eyes clamped down on the larger demon's wrist with his large maw. The monster looked down at her with his six eyes. She instantly recognized him. "Puppy…"

He let go of his hold on Kirae's arm and head butted her, causing her to fall backwards, momentarily. Puppy turned and grabbed Fumi in his large paw. She screamed with surprised but immediately stopped as she felt her body being crushed and she could no long breath. Her eyes rolled back into her head from the pain and she fainted. Puppy placed her next to Mokumaru and turned to face his mother. The two growling demons faced off. Kirae lunged forward and Puppy did the same, the two grappling. Kirae, however, was twice his size and quickly began pushing him back.

"Kamaitachi!" A large cyclone of wind dug into Kirae's side causing her to let go of her hold on her son and retreat back a few steps. Thick, almost black, blood poured onto the ground. Temari stood in the distance with Kankurou, Shikamaru and a number of other Suna ninja. Gaara was over by the children. He seemed to be examining them intently.

Puppy instantly transformed and ran over to him. "I hope she's okay. I grabbed Fumi and moved her here. She wouldn't leave so-"

Gaara was shaking as he gingerly touched Fumi's pale face. "You…You did this?"

"I was trying to protect her…She was going to be hurt by…"

The red-haired ninja whirled around. "YOU IDIOT! IF YOU CAN'T CONTROL YOU POWER THEN YOU'RE USELESS TO THIS VILLAGE!" he shouted. Puppy blinked at him. "If they die, it's your fault. I'll never forgive you! Fumi… Mo-kun… You stupid brat!" Gaara immediately stopped somehow the back of his hand found it's own life and struck his son. The realization didn't hit him until he began to see the red mark appearing on the boy's face. The child's green eyes that once sparkled in his presence slowly dimmed. He saw in the eyes of his son the world shatter. The boy backed away from him as if _he_ was the monster.

Kirae assumed her human form, grasping at her wound. She coughed up a little blood. Everyone was in shock around her. She was there, she mused. She witnessed the stoid Gaara lose himself. The feeling was immensely satisfying. A smile played on her lips and she put on her most motherly tone. "Come to me, my son. If this village doesn't want you...then I do. I'll take of you."

"Puppy, don't! He didn't mean it!" Temari yelled. But the boy looked at her with blank eyes. He looked back at his father who was looking at his hand in disbelief, speechless.

A Suna ninja stepped closer to the boy and his mother but she immediately fell to all fours as a great wolf. Her snarling caused them to step back. She looked at the child beside her. He was shaking as he touched his stinging cheek. "Mmm, the budding bloom of hatred," she cooed aloud. "I couldn't have done better myself, Gaara. Come." She dashed off. Puppy gave a final look at them, a blank stare that turned into a hurt gaze, that then deteriorated into a hateful and pained glare then turned into his wolf cub form following his mother into the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

A double update since I missed one last night. I was tired and went to bed early. Not much more left.

* * *

Chapter 9: Your name is…

Shikamaru watched the two wolves escape. He wanted to use his shadow technique but they were dashing away too quickly and their paths were too erratic from him to get a firm hold. They came too late it seemed. He glanced from the side of his eyes to his wife. She was staring at them, her expression was of one watching a baby carriage fall off a cliff knowing that there was nothing that could be done to stop the tragic situation. Kankurou was holding his head, gripping his hair at the same time.

Konoha's shadow ninja walked over to Gaara and knelt beside his child. He put his fingers to her neck. "Looks like she'll be fine," he whispered, afraid to speak any louder. "Just a broken arm…Maybe a few bruised ribs." He touched Mokumaru's head. "Concussion…They'll be out for a few weeks." He sighed. "Troublesome…"

"Kazekage?" ventured one of the Sandnin. "Shall we track them?"

Kankurou gripped his hair tighter and looked at Gaara. "Why did he say something so stupid," he growled through gritted teeth. "No, you'll never find her until she wants to be found. Just keep the country on alert. She's wanted and I want any wolf that's not the right size shot. Damn oni!"

"Y-Yessir." The ninja retreated quickly to deliver the message.

Gaara picked up Mokumaru and Shikamaru held Fumi. "Take them to the infirmary," order Kankurou as they two approached. Gaara let a kunoichi take the boy from his arms, which he immediately dropped to his side. Once the children were taken away, Kankurou grabbed his younger brother by the collar. "What the hell is wrong with you? If you were trying not to sound like Dad, then you just fucking failed miserably!"

A green-eyed moved to look at him. "I…I don't know. I just…" He didn't finish. Kankurou let him go, disgusted. Gaara didn't react.

Temari turned and slapped him, his sand not coming to defend him. "Gaara, you idiot. YOU IDIOT! How could say that? He was trying to save them and you … You sounded just like him, you know that? Did you see how he looked? Don't you remember what if felt like?" Gaara didn't answer any of her questions. "If anything happens to him…" She turned and ran to catch up with the ninja carrying the children.

"I am an idiot." He sighed deeply, dropping his head. He felt a heavy arm on his shoulders.

"You forgot the important part," Shikamaru whispered. "To say that you were sorry."

Gaara sat in the library a week later. He never left, not since that day. Temari wouldn't look at him and Kankurou always balled up his fist when they had to meet. As a matter of fact, though usually silent, the red-haired ninja didn't say one word since the incident. Everyone left him alone in his corner of misery. A sound behind one of the shelves alerted him to someone's presence. It was Mokumaru.

The boy's head was still bandaged but he was well enough to be let out of the hospital. He wore a grim expression. "I heard…about what happened." Gaara just looked at him. "We…we told him before when you said that stuff the first time that you didn't mean it but…then you…" He looked down to search for words. "Uncle Gaara, you shouldn't have said that. I mean, I think I won't like you as much if something happens to Puppy because of it." Gaara blinked slowly. The child was really struggling. He was upset but tried to sound adult. Just like always. "You see, it's just that we're family and family is always number one. Since, Puppy didn't mean to hurt Fumi then you shouldn't have yelled and… I think you-"

"I'm sorry," Gaara rasped with his underused voice. The young ninja student looked confused. "That's…what I want to say to him. But it's too late isn't it?"

Mokumaru looked down with a small smile. "I knew you didn't really mean it. I guess that means I can forgive you. I didn't want to not like you, Uncle Gaara." There was a heavy silence. The young boy shifted from foot to foot. "Well… I'll go to tell Fumi. She was really upset over this." He walked off.

The red-haired ninja slouched in his seat by the window. He closed his eyes wondering if he couldn't let the Shukaku eat his rotten existence and end it all. Everyday that he looked in the mirror or saw his reflection he would vomit. It was the same as his Father's.

More footsteps. Shikamaru, he decided from behind his eyes. The footsteps sound slow and soft. "Nice night out." Silence. "Still feel bad?"

"Wouldn't you?" He opened his eyes. Shikamaru was forcing a smile at him. He seemed to be the only one that didn't hate him at the moment. Was it pity?

"Yeah… Don't sweat it. He'll spend a few more days with his Mom and realize that you were a million times better. I'll be surprised his he's not on his way here now," Shikamaru said cheerily. Silence. "… I still don't get it. Why did you-"

"I don't know…It's just what came to mind to say. I guess I heard it so many times it's like second nature," he muttered. "Maybe…I wasn't even talking to him at all. Maybe I was talking to myself. I knew I'd screw him up. But it's too late now…" Gaara closed his eyes again.

The pony tailed ninja sat down beside him. "I have a sneaky suspicion that we haven't seen the last of Kirae or Puppy. There will be a next time."

"Puppy… He wanted me to give him a name so I called him a 'stupid brat'," Gaara hissed. "I've been thinking about it ever since."

Shikamaru nodded slowly. "Mmm, we never knew what to call him. Puppy just seemed appropriate but he's right. He does need a decent name...Any ideas."

Gaara nodded slowly. "I was thinking something... But, what if he doesn't like it?" He growled. "I'm not going to get involved him again. It was a mistake from the beginning."

He felt Shikamaru's hand on his shoulder. "Look, just being depressed isn't going to help. It'll be troublesome if you continue say stupid things so… think of some nice things to say to your son when you see him again." He left Gaara to mull over his words.

It was a month to the day that the incident occurred when Kankurou summoned his brother to his office. Gaara stood before him silently. His brother was in his Kazekage uniform, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers. "It's bad this time." Recently villages were being attacked. Murders were on the rise but there were no suspects. Gaara nodded and reached out to take the mission scroll. Kankurou held on to it firmly, looking his brother straight in the eye.

"It's a massacre…only one man in an entire village is alive. It's Kirae, I'm sure of it."

"I accept the mission" Gaara stated, his expression unchanging.

Kankurou ignored him. "A small village 50 miles south of here. You know what I want you to do," the Kazekage said firmly. Gaara nodded and turned to leave. "If he's there, I expect him to come home." There was no reaction. "Dismissed." The younger ninja left silently.

Gaara could smell the stench of death before he could see the village. The road looked unused for sometime, perhaps a few weeks. Vultures and ravens circled the village like a cloud. Their eerie cries would have deterred anyone just idly passing by. When he finally caught sight of the village though, even he was stunned. There was blood everywhere, as if it had rained on the village. Dead bodies were strewn across the streets, hanging out of windows, half way in doors, but all of them with looks of fear contorted on their faces. Gaara stepped over the body of a woman as he delved into the city, keeping his eyes and ears alert.

Graffiti written in blood polluted every flat surface. "Hate", "Human scum", "Kill" and similar words were everywhere. Gaara stepped on a doll that instantly cried, "Mama" and jumped back. He let out a relieved sigh, though his heart still beat rapidly. Steeling himself he knelt down to pick up the doll, when he noticed that the little girl that owned it was still holding it in her death. He dropped the doll and shook his head in disbelief.

"What carnage... Kirae, I'll kill you for this." He clenched his fist tightly, still staring at the bloody toy.

A loud rumbling sound came down the street. Gaara looked up in time to see bodies thrown aside as a cloud of earth tore towards him. Gaara braced himself immediately for the assault. The sand came up to protect him but he slid back from the sheer force of the attack. In front of him was a large boulder that left a scar in the road. At its origin was Kirae. Beside her was his son, hunched over, dirt dripping from his hands.

"Kirae!" Gaara called out. "Stop this madness or I'll kill you!" He heard an airy laugh.

"I don't know why you're telling me. I'm not the cause of this." She placed her hand on the boy's head. He straightened, but kept his head bowed, darkness obscuring his face. Gaara clenched his teeth tight. He couldn't believe that the boy that laughed so honestly, that smiled so freely, the loved so easily, was the cause of this. But his disbelief was dispelled when the boy finally deemed to look up. His eyes were full of hatred and malice.

"I really have to thank you Gaara. I never thought your arrogance and heartlessness would be so useful. I tried my hardest to force the power of hatred and vengeance into this boy his entire life. And you succeeded where I failed in a matter of minutes." Gaara bowed his head, digging his nails into his palms.

"This village wasn't the first to feel the power of that hate but still he hungers for more blood. The screams of these worthless creatures only gave him and me more power. I love the taste of human flesh and I don't plan on cutting it out of my diet any time soon." She lifted her hand, pointing at Gaara, and the boy rushed forward.

The speed of the boy was typical of the Dairou, however, Gaara was still surprised that he could move so quickly. The timid child that looked at him was gone. The half-demon child jumped into air and landed on a platform of sand, digging his long nails into. He jumped back and lifted several large blocks from the ground with his power and tossed them a Gaara. They were all deflected.

"Ah, an even match. I suppose our little bundle of joy will have to get older before he's on par with you. He did inherit a small portion of your ability that you acquired from the Shukaku. There are some things he's capable of that even surprise me. Show him."

Dirt snaked over the boys body and formed into a large wolf demon. "His power over the earth is unlimited. Even I am unable to command such precise control. Amazing…" He lunged for Gaara but the sand wrapped around the earthen wolf's mouth and forced it to stay open. Forcefully, the sand ripped the jutsu's in half. His son jumped from the shell as the sand ripped it to shreds. He raised earth kunai from the ground and assailed Gaara but they were merely stopped. Each attacke the boy launched was in someway defended against but he tirelessly continued fighting.

Gaara continued to glare at Kirae from between the burst of sand. "Make him stop! I don't want to fight him. This is between us."

"I'm afraid not. This is far more interesting than any fight with you. What will Sunagakure's finest ninja do when faced against his own son." She laughed.

"I can't believe I had anything to do with you. You've changed, Kirae," he stated. He grabbed the boulder tossed at him with his sand and crushed it. "You weren't like this when we fought Dairouchimimaru."

Kirae took a step forward. "No, I wasn't. But since we killed my father, I've come across a nice amount of power. I am the new leader of the Dairou. Usually when a dairou leader dies the power passes on to his first born child. I killed all of my brothers and sisters to become the last remaining child of Dairouchimimaru. But the power transfer doesn't work that way. If first child dies, then the next strongest wolf gets the power. I was immediately exiled and came here. The only way I could succeed was if I killed Dairouchimimaru and proved that I was indeed strong. You were the perfect tool for that." Gaara narrowed his eyes.

"By consuming his heart, I became heir to his throne. With each passing day, I could feel the power growing inside of me. Then you foolishly gave int to you weak human desires and now it is _I_ that have an heir. Thanks to you, he is not only my first born but the next strongest wolf in our pack!" She looked at the boy who was crouching on a peice of building, panting. "The only problem was that he was born weak. His human emotions ruled him. Like you, I couldn't break him but that's not a problem anymore." She glared at their son and clicked her teeth. "Don't just stare at him, you idiot! Kill him!"

The boy jumped into the air and used his earth kunai. The flurry of dirt weaponry imbedded into Gaara's sand. But the older ninja could not completely defend against the wind attack that followed. Part of his sand armor on his skin chipped and fell to the ground. Gaara wouldn't fight his son and that was what Kirae was counting on. She was going to watch either the boy kill him or Gaara kill himself by killing the boy, either way she would satisfied in seeing the misery.

"KIRAE!" Gaara tossed out his hand and the sand turned into spears aimed for her. The demon didn't move. Their son intercepted their path. One impaled him in the side. Panting, he held the remaining two in his hands. Blood dripped from his hands. His face didn't even register the pain.

Kirae laughed hysterically and almost doubled in pain. "Yes...it's so fantastic. He's willing to die for me! How adorable! But how far will you go, Gaara-kun? He won't let you attack me and you won't attack him." She tossed her head back and laughed. Her voice was high-pitched and crazed.

The sand spears melted into grains to be pushed away by the wind. The boy ran at him again. He reared back to punch him but his fist was imbedded into the sand. Angrily, he tried with his other fist but found himself firmly stuck. His onnce kind eyes were feral and wild as he snarled and struggled against his sand shackles. Gaara reached his hand out to touch him but the child snapped at his fingers.

_It'll be troublesome if you continue say stupid things so… think of some nice things to say to your son when you see him again._

The Sand ninja smiled kindly. "I said something very stupid last time we were together, didn't I?" He shook his head and released the sand. His thanks was a large block of earth that he jumped away from. "At first I didn't know what I should say," he continued, "My father said those kinds of things to me when I was your age so I said them too. But I didn't mean them."

The strain of using his chakra while injured, made the young child cough up blood. He closed his eyes and staggered but gripped an over-turned cart for stability. He levitated more rock and earth and pelted Gaara who alternated between dodging and using the sand to deflect them. He appeared behind the boy. "My family is very important to me so I guess I got too upset when I saw what happened to Fumi. I made a mistake. You're my family too and you're very important me. That's why I want you to come home."

Kirae took several steps forward but Gaara was quick and sand cut her off. "It won't work!" she yelled. "He hates you and humanity now. I took advantage of the catalyst that you presented. He hates his human half now all that matters is revenge! He's a full-blooded demon now!"

However, Gaara continued. He knelt down and held his hand out. The boy just stared, his breathing laboured. "Everyone is worried about you. Killing isn't like you, either. You're a good boy. I'm sorry I said those things and made you angry." He reached closer to the boy. He tried to smack Gaara's hand away but when he did, Gaara grabbed his wrist gently but firmly.

"My name means, "I love myself". My mother didn't want me either. No one did. So I hated myself at first. Because someone I cared about said unkind things to me I learned to love myself and only myself, but even then... I hated myself! I was a monster that loved only pain and killing. But I'll help you. I love others now as well. Temari, Kankurou, Fumi, Mokumaru, and even my friends in Konoha. But I love you, too."

"… You LIAR!" Gaara's son screamed as he snatched his wrist away. Tears formed in his eyes. " You liar! You don't care anything about me. You don't want me. You don't love me!" He tried to bite Gaara's hand but the sand protected his skin. He clamped his jaws as hard as he could but the sand did not yield.

"It's not a lie. I mean it. I really do. Ever since you left I've only thought about you and I even thought of a really nice name for you. If you stop biting me I'll tell it to you."

Kirae had enough. She could see that Gaara was getting through. A month wasn't enough time to completely destroy his kindness, his hatred as incomplete. She tried to jump over the sand but it shot up and grabbed her ankle. She fell to the ground harshly. She struggled as she propped herself up on her elbow. "Don't listen! He's lying. Humans never tell the truth. He's trying to use you like-"

"Like you?" Gaara spat. "No. No one deserves to be used like a weapon. A person should choose to fight of their own free will. They shouldn't be forced or made to. That's how it used to be for me. But now I have very precious people that I want to protect. That's...my way of the ninja." The boy slowly stopped biting his father's hand. "And love is all I need to be you father, Aiki, my 'spirit of love'."

"'Aiki'?" Tiny lips repeated slowly.

"Do you like it?"

"Aiki..." he repeated. He didn't trust what he heard. "'Spirit of Love'... Am I really important to you? Were you lying just now?" His expression hardened. "If you are, then I'll kill you and everyone else just like here."

Gaara shook his head. "No. It's really the truth." They stared at each other, trying to feel out the others intent. Finally, Gaara smiled a little and put his hand on the boy's head. "It's the truth."

Aiki wiped his face with his sleeve. "... Then...I want to go home. I feel ... sick..." Gaara picked him up and rubbed his back.

"Everyone's waiting for us." The sandnin turned slightly.

Kirae shakily stood. Her face was full of rage and disbelief. "I won't let you take him, Sabakuno Gaara!" She dashed forward, her claws extended. Gaara held out his hand and spikes of sand flew forward, impaling her. She coughed up blood, he wide eyes staring at the two before her.

"Kirae?" The sand released her. She fell to her knees, shaking and growling. "I won't say I ever really cared about you but you are the mother of my son. I don't care what you do to your clan but your time among humans is over. I'll let you go this time but..." He turned his back to her and began walking away. "If I ever see you again, I'll destroy you. In other words, I don't want to see you face again."

The she-demon clenched her fist tightly. "Aiki! I'm your mother! I raised you your whole life! I took care of you!" She lunged forward but earth rose up and tossed her back. She skidded across the ground and came to a halt by some rubble.

Aiki turned his head. "Mommy… Don't follow me. I don't belong to you. I'm not your tool… If you threaten my family, Sunagakure, or Konoha, I'll be the one that kills you. " He closed his eyes wearily as he fell asleep in Gaara's arms. Gaara walked away, stepping over the carnage as we walked along.

The Kazekage jolted up from sleep. The loud knock as his door woke him from a deep sleep. A paper was stuck to his face. He peeled it off with a yawn and beckoned for whoever it was to open the door. He almost choked when his brother stepped in Aiki covered in blood. "You found him! What the hell-"

"Kazekage…The subject Kirae is no longer a danger however the actual murderer of the villagers is Sabakuno Aiki," he stated putting a hand on the boys head. "As a ninja of Sand, I understand that his crime is inexcusable… but as his father, if his life is in danger, I'll have to-"

Kankurou held up his hand and slammed his head on the desk. "Be joking. Tell me it's a joke."

"I did it, Uncle Kankurou. Mommy told me to so I did it. I killed all those people," Aiki confessed sadly. He clutched his chest tightly. "I'm sorry. I did a bad thing."

Wham. Wham. Wham. "Be joking, Gaara."

"Whatever happens, I won't let you kill him. I take full responsibility," Gaara answered.

Wham. "You." Wham. "Are." Wham. "Not joking." Kankurou, his forehead now red, looked up. "I won't let them kill him Gaara, but he killed over 200 hundred innocent people. That is a very very very hard thing to justify."

"I know. I'm not asking you to defend him but-"

Kankurou stood up. "Shut up. You've saved my life countless times. I owe you but this…this is the payback to end all paybacks."

"I understand. I-"

"Stop…doing the thing…where you talk. Just listen." Kankurou took a deep breath. "No one is aware that the boy was involved…So…I can twist the truth a little and I might be able to pull it off."

Gaara nodded. "You'll have to lie to our people... I… Thank you, big brother."

"Consider us even," Kankurou muttered. He went to the door and opened it. "Better get cleaned up before someone sees you two."

The red-haired ninja led his son out of the room and to the bathroom. He started up the shower and placed the small child in. Aiki shook his body at first under the torrent of water. "Typhoon."

"It's a shower," Gaara corrected. "You're too dirty for a bath." Gaara rolled up his sleeves and began washing the young boy's hair. Soap was tinted pink. Blood, he mused. "Keep your eyes closed. If you get soap in them then it will burn." Aiki nodded and squinted his eyes tightly. Gaara wouldn't let soap get into his eyes but the sight of the blood might upset him.

Once cleaned, Aiki climbed out of the shower and shook while on all fours like a dog. Gaara tossed the towel on top of him. "Use the towel. You won't get water everywhere that way." Aiki peaked from under the towel.

"Do you think we can see Fumi after now?" He looked at the ground and pressed his index fingers together. "I want to say sorry for hurting her."

Gaara sat on the edge of bathtub and began rub the towel over the boy's hair. "Sure. Then we'll go outside and play."

Aiki's expression brightened. "Really!" His father looked at him with no expression and nodded. "Can we play Ninja Tag?"

"What's that?"

"I'll teach you," he began getting dressed. Gaara watched for a while but helped him put his shirt on.

Gaara tried running a come through the boy's long and wild hair, only to break it. "Hm." Aiki looked at the broken comb curiously. "Uh...well, I guess it's not too bad," he lied. He plucked the broken comb from his son's hair and stood up. "Let's go see Fumi." He opened the door and two small bodies fell at his feet. Mokumaru was on top of Fumi, who was rubbing her forehead.

"Get off of me, Mokumaru!"

"Oops!" He hopped up and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "We heard you came back. And we were going to…that is… We were just-"

Gaara held his hand out to Fumi. "Eavesdropping." The girl took his hand and hefted herself off the ground. She looked around her uncle and saw Aiki wearing his usual "I did something bad" expression. She immediately ran over to him and hugged him tightly. She tried to hide the tears growing behind her eyelids.

"You're back! When I heard you left, I was really sad!" She took his hand. "Don't run off like that okay. It's not how family is supposed to act." Fumi turned on Gaara. "And don't you go and say things that are mean! It's really troublesome and it's DEFINITELY not how family acts."

Gaara nodded. "You're right. Aiki, did you want to say something to Fumi?"

"Aiki?" Both Mokumaru and Fumi intoned.

The boy smiled and blushed. "It's my name...Fumi-san..., I'm sorry I hurt you." He bowed deeply. "It won't happen again."

She grinned broadly as was her habit and ruffled his hair. "You kidding? I'd rather you had grabbed me than your mom! Besides you'd never hurt me on purpose...just uh...don't squeeze so hard next time." He nodded.

Mokumaru tugged his uncle's belt and gave him a very knowing look. The usually stoic ninja cleared his throat and immediately frowned. "Aiki, let's play Ninja Tag."

The two cousins immediately latched on to Aiki. "Ninja Tag?" "Uncle Gaara's playing too?" Aiki nodded to the both of them and ran to the door.

"Let's go!" The children ran outside at top speed, leaving Gaara to follow at a cool walk. However, he was forced to stop when he saw an unexpected face.

"Kiba?"

The Konoha ninja nodded. "Gaara, I have to know. What happened to the woman?"

"She's gone. I sent her away when I got Aiki back."

He sighed and approached the shorter Gaara. He put his hand on his shoulder, his eyes looking at him intensely. "Gaara, it's definitely not over. She's going to come back and-"

"If she does, I'll be ready." He moved Kiba's hand. "I have to go play with my son." Gaara tried to walk past Kiba but the Inuzuka cut him off.

"I just have one more thing to say...If she dies then Aiki is next in line to receive the power of the Dairou clan... If he does then at his age, it might be too much power for him to handle and he'll lose his mind...just like his mother. And if that happens..."

Gaara gritted his teeth. "I know that. That's whey I didn't kill her. I won't let what happened to Kirae happen to him. Don't worry about it. I have-" He hesitated. "...I know what I have to do, Kiba. Just don't get in my when the time comes."

"What are you planning?"

"Let's hope you never have to find out." He shouldered past Kiba and continued outside. Akamaru leaned to the side and scratched his neck with his hind paw.

"I think we should have faith in, Gaara. But...just in case, I think we should continue with our plans as well."

Kiba nodded. "You're right. Let's go."


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry, it's late. Added much on to this one! Enjoy the changes.

* * *

Chapter 10: Battle for Sunagakure 

Sabakuno Aiki sat on the ground and panted heavily. Gaara stood a few feet in front of him, arms crossed. "Giving up all ready?" It had only been a few days after they had returned but Aiki immediately wanted to begin training. He had come to Gaara and begged him to teach him to control his powers. Relunctantly, his father had to agree.

They were practicing manipulating the earth. Something that Gaara learned to control out of necessity. His sand reacted many times based on his emotion and unconscious thoughts. Aiki had more control over that but still was only able to fully tap his powers in a rage. The boy shook his head and stood up. "Just getting started," he answered. He pulled his hand together forming a triangle with his fingers. The ground in front of Gaara rumbled and began to swirl. "Tsuchi ana no jutsu!" The ground stopped swirling. Aiki and Gaara moved over to the dent in the ground. A small hole, about a foot deep had formed.

"It's getting there," Gaara said to encourage him. Aiki still seemed concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Do you really think Mommy is gone… for good?" he asked quietly. Gaara examined him for a few moments before sighing deeply.

"I don't know. I hope so but if she comes I'll kill her for sure, so just don't worry about it. The Shuukaku is larger than she is and more powerful." He stood from his kneel and filled the hole with sand. "I better to go help Kankurou with his research. He's probably fell asleep again."

Aiki nodded and stood up as well. "Can I go play?" Gaara nodded and the boy zipped off. Fumi and Mokumaru were at the playground with a dozen other kids. They were navigated a metal cage of some kind with the half-demon arrived. "Hey, guys!"

"No way! Done with training?" Mokumaru piped up brightly. Aiki nodded. "Lucky. You get to train with Gaara." This garnered a few looks from the other kids.

"Bitter?" Fumi teased?

"NO!...Just…sayin'-" was his unconvincing answer. Aiki laughed but he felt uncomfortable with so many watching him suddenly. Their expressions were uninviting and severe. They were suspicious of him and something else he couldn't place. Mokumaru distracted him by putting an arm around his shoulders and smiling, something the reassured him completely.

Gaara shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight as he exited Kazekage's. Kankurou _had_ fallen asleep and research took longer than expected. The sky was a rusty red, the sun a gleaming yellow gem in a cloudless sky as it fell. His sandals made little sound on the stone stairs. Kankurou had arranged a home for him close by, he was eager to show it to Aiki. His search was not long but he stopped short of greeting them.

Mokumaru was standing in a defensive posture, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. Fumi had her hand on her fan as she stood beside Mokumaru and before a group of five or six other Suna children. Aiki was hiding behind his cousins, finger in his mouth.

"I said leave him alone!" Mokumaru yelled, balling up his fist. "He didn't do anything!"

"My mom said he's a demon just like his dad! His dad broke my dad's arm when they were little and he didn't even do anything!" retorted the leader, boy about Mokumaru's age, wearing a red spotted bandana that drooped over one eye.

"So what? I bet your dad was being a jerk and if you don't shut up then you'll end up with a broken face." Fumi snapped, lifting her miniature three-starred tessen.

The boy didn't seem phased. He adjusted his posture, arrogantly regarding them with the air of someone who knew all of their dirt. "You're family is so screwed up. The Fourth is your great grandfather, right, the one responsible for Sunagakure's great failure in the war. And now, I heard that you're Dad isn't even good enough to be Kazekage!" This was the final insult before Mokumaru pounced on the boy and punched him in the eye. Aiki gave a little yelp but Fumi more than eagerly entered the fray. She grabbed some girl by her ponytail and was ready to give her a black eye when sand burst up and several hands made of sand tore the fighting children apart.

Gaara walked up, wearing a stern face, arms crossed. Fumi's shocked expression melted into one of vicious glee. "You'll get it now. I bet Uncle Gaara's gonna Sabaku Sousou you!" She took her hands and made a squish motion that made the girl she fought go snow white.

"NARA FUMI!" he barked. "You're father's going to do worse than that to you." The sand retreated, dropping the kids. "All of you go home. Mokumaru, Fumi, Aiki, come with me." He turned and began walking away. The son of the current Kazekage was red with shame and smoldering anger. He gave the bandana'd kid a dirty look before shuffling away. Aiki immediately shrank into his puppy form and scuttled behind his father, tails tucked solidly between his legs. Fumi simply looked annoyed. She paused to look back. The kids were still standing in their spots, wondering what they should do. She grinned and raised her hand in the motion she saw Gaara use in practice. She mouthed the words "Sabaku Kyu" but was yanked back by her collar. Gaara 's black ringed eyes were glaring down at her. "Not funny," he said with a slowness that spoke of his inner anger. Fumi needed no more encouragement to become the world's model child in obedience.

Soon the three kids were seated in Kankurou's office. The second oldest Sand Sibling was hiding a smile as he watched Gaara stand before them like they were his disobedient students. Shikamaru yawned from his post against the wall, happy for once that someone else was doling out discipline. Temari was seated beside him, legs crossed, head resting on her first.

"Firstly…Mokumaru, you should know better than to fight your own people. Even if they do make you angry, you can't go and start raising your fists against your comrades," Gaara scolded.

"They said that Dad didn't make a good Kazekage!" He muttered without looking up.

Kankurou nearly choked. "What? They said that? Did you kick his ass?" Gaara turned around and gave him a filthy look. He cleared his throat and settled in his seat. "Oh…uh…'cause if you did, I'm very disappointed."

"I just punched him in the face." Gaara turned back to face Mokumaru, Kankurou gave him a wink and thumbs up. His son smiled but immediately hid it for fear that he'd get his dad in trouble too. Temari whapped her brother on Gaara's behalf.

"Secondly. Fumi… Don't go around using me as a threat. I would never Sabaku Sousou anyone that didn't deserve it. It's bad enough people are afraid of me, without you going around convincing them that I'm a murderer-for-hire."

Fumi was still indignant. She felt fully justified in threatening that brat on behalf of her cousin."She did deserve it! You didn't hear all the stuff they called Aiki!" She balled up her fist and glared at an invisible opponent. "Ooooo, it just made me so mad! I could just-" She punched her palm a few times.

"Oi!" Shikamaru snapped and looked at her with exasperation. "Calm down. So freaking violent, just like your mother." She sighed and averted her gaze in anger. Her mind was still on vengeance.

Gaara turned to Aiki. The boy gave him a severe case of puppy-dog eyes. "Maybe you should stay inside for a while. Not many people like me, so... it might be tough for you for a while." Aiki nodded.

A shinobi entered the room and bowed. "Sorry, Kazekage, but a sandstorm is heading this way. It'll probably hit us so the city is going into alert." Beyond the walls, they could hear the wail of the sirens alerting the citizens to board up their windows and evacuate the streets.

"Well, I guess the fight wasn't all bad," Shikamaru commented. "But this sandstorm is a little troublesome. We won't be able to go home in this."

Kankurou gave a concerned groan. "Yeah but Kiba already left for Konoha. Do you think he'll be all right? This sandstorm is a bit out of season."

"Kiba's pretty fast. And his senses are sharp. He probably smelled the sandstorm before we even knew about it. I'm sure he's fine," the ponytailed ninja assured the leader of Sunagakure.

Gaara put his hand on Aiki's head. "Let's get you something to eat."

Mokumaru's eye went wide. "Whoa, Uncle Gaara's gonna cook?"

Fumi hopped out of her seat. "I want onigiri! With extra tuna and mayonnaise, please?"

Mokumaru made a disgusted face. He hated mayonnaise with a passion. "Rice with red bean paste! And seaweed sprinkles!" It was Fumi's turn to look ill.

The kids ran out to the kitchen, eagerly awaiting their lunch prepared by their favorite uncle. Shikamaru scratched his arm in confusion. "Gaara, I didn't know you could cook."

"Are you kidding? I'm a worse cook than Temari," he admitted. Aiki tugged on his shirt.

"I like Aunt Temari's cooking."

Kankurou slammed his fist on his desk. "Damn that Kirae! I knew she screwed him up but I had no idea that she ruined his sense of taste too! He's in a sad state, Gaara." Temari whapped him again but perhaps this time she put more heart into it.

The younger man gave a short laugh before leaving the room. Fumi was already on the kitchen counter trying to measure out the rice necessary amount of rice to make her rice balls and Mokumaru's meal. "Lesse…3 cups should be enough." She closed the lid to the rice cooker after adding the rice and water and pressed the power button.

Mokumaru was in the counters looking for the packet of red bean paste. He learned early on how to make his favorite meal from his mother. Find the packet boil it in water for five minutes, open and enjoy. Sometimes he put the mixture on his ice cream cold.

Aiki climbed into a stool and watched the steam rise out of the vents of the rice cooker. There was a low rumbling as the wall shook slightly. They all looked around as the lights flickered for a few seconds.

"That was fast. Sandstorm's already started."

"If anyone's still out there, they should be fine for a little while longer but they'll want to get inside pretty soon," Gaara commented. Mokumaru nodded.

Fumi looked out the window. Flags, swings, and trees all swayed in the heavy wind. There was a sandy brown tint to the air outside, indicating the now airborne grains of sand flying into the atmosphere. "It does look dangerous out there. But I'm not scared." She turned to look at the rice cooker but noticed Aiki staring intently out the window. "Are _you_ scared?"

The boy didn't say anything but continued to stare. Mokumaru attached a string of chakra to one of his yo-yos. "It's his fist sandstorm. He's probably amazed." They all watched the storm until the rice cooker gave a loud buzz. Gaara put on an apron and with a sigh proceeded to try and make food. Fumi taught him how to properly make the triangular onigiri and fold the seaweed around it. While Fumi's where perfectly shaped, Gaara's took on every shape but triangle. Aiki continued to stare out of the window, something inside of him becoming restless.

Kiba tightened the hood around his body, to shield it from the heat of the sun. Akamaru panted heavily as he padded across the hot sands. They had left the village early in the day to get a headstart on the heat but the desert quickly became unforgiving.

The Leaf Ninja paused long enough to wipe the sweat from his brow when a scent was carried under his nose. He looked down and noticed that Akamaru was growling, hackles raised. Kiba tossed the hood back and sniffed the air more vigorously. "Wolves."

"Not wolves. Dairou," snarled the large white dog. "They're closer than we thought. We have to hurry to Konoha, Kiba."

"…You go. I have to go back to Sunagakure."

This took the dog by surprise. There was very few times in their lives that they had been separated by choice. "Kiba…"

"If she attacks while we're gone, they'll be in big trouble. Only an Inuzuka can stop the transfer of power, Akamaru… I have to keep the kid from becoming the next dairou king."

"I'll go as fast as I can. Kiba… Don't get in over you head. Even if it gets dangerous, no matter what, you have to-"

Kiba pulled the hood over his head and gave his dog a smile. "I know. I know. We've been over this a million times before." He turned back. "Just hurry up. I don't want to do this alone, old friend." Kiba knelt down and hugged his dog, slipping a canteen of water over his neck.

The dog nodded and galloped at top speed down the dune and towards their village of Konoha. A stiff wind stirred up some of the harsh sticky sand, causing Kiba to shield his eyes. The scent was strong on the wind. He headed towards it.

The sandstorm continued for the next two days without any sign of letting up. The village's natural systems for flushing the excess sand out of the streets and sewers were being pushed to their limits. Kankurou stood in his office and looked out the window. Temari was reading an old magazine.

"It's really storming out there," he said after a long silence. "The village is at a complete standstill. Until this thing stops we can't even contact the outside world."

"It's always like this. It is lasting a bit longer than usual but out of season sandstorms are always unpredictable like this," she said dully, not really paying attention.

"I just never realized how much of an effect these things had on people until I became the Kazekage. What a hassle. The paperwork's going to be sky high when this is all over."

Temari grinned brattishly. "Aw, is wittle brother weighed down by responsibility?"

"Aw shut up!"

Shikamaru was walking down the hallway in a kind of trance though he heard the distance shouting of his wife and her sibling. He was bored out of his mind and watching sand flying by the window wasn't as soothing as watching the white clouds swim across the sea of blue sky. He stopped in aimless wandering when he saw Aiki staring out of a window.

"Ah, Aiki. He…ey.." he trailed off. The expression on the boy's face was odd. His eyes were shaking and he was chewing on his lip. Shikamaru walked over behind the boy and looked out the window. It was the same rusty brown blur as it had been for the last two days. He looked down at the boy. His dark-rimmed eyes were fixed on something. The knuckles on his hands were white as he gripped the windowsill.

The small boy shook slightly. Every hair on his skin was on end, shivers running across his skin. Ever since the storm started something was warning him against it. Something told him it was dangerous and as the weather grew in furiousity, the feeling grew constantly. The darkness around his eyes for once was not a sign of his wolfen markings but instead of lack of sleep. To everyone else, the storm sounded as a dull drone that beat against the buildings. But Aiki could hear voices on the wind; whispers, growls, and howls. He tried to ignore them but they were insistent on his attention. He could smell the faint scent of chakra on the air but as far as he could tell no one else noticed. Maybe he was simply going crazy.

As he stared out the window, listening to the unintelligible words on the air, he noticed a peculiar swirl just in front of him. The longer he stared at it the clearer it became. He stared so intently that his eyes began to burn but what he finally saw made him scream and stumble back in fear. For a brief moment he thought he saw the head of a giant six-eyed wolf snarling at him but when he blinked it was gone.

Two large hands fell on his shoulders to support him, still he jumped up in fear. He looked up into the confused eyes of his uncle. The man gave a weak smile. "You know if you're so scared of the storm, maybe you shouldn't stare at it so much."

Aiki didn't respond but shook his head. His heart was still pounding in his chest. He rubbed his eyes and looked back out the window. There was still no sign of the image that he had seen before. He turned back to his uncle. "I…" He swallowed his words and took off down the hall. Shikamaru didn't stop him but made a note to talk to Gaara about it if he ran into him.

Kankurou was just sitting down when one of his aides entered the room. "Hey, Kanku-uuuuh. Kazekage."

"Shinji. What's going on?" Kankurou smiled at the tall, skinny ninja with white bangs that hung in front of his face.

"The sandstorm is finally letting up! In a few hours, we'll be back in business," he reported. He gave a thumbs-up and leaned against the wall. "And, the sand processing guys said they have a lot of stuff for you to sign. Hehe."

Kankurou groaned. "Shut up, will yah. What is with people today… Let me enjoy these last few moments of peace, please!"

"Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow. That is if you I _can_ see you over that stack of papers!" Shinji barely missed a paper weight hitting him in the skull as he slunk out of the room.

Kankurou sighed with a smile and sat down in his chair. He stared at the hat on his desk and fingered the silk fabric. He could already hear the dying wind and a few people yelling out of the unboarded windows to their neighbors. He picked up the hat and adjusted it on his head. Gaara may hate the hat but Kankurou loved what the hat represented.

No sooner had Kankurou returned to reading a scroll than did Shinji appear back in his office panting heavily. "Kazekage-sama!" Shinji exclaimed, his jocular mood completely gone . "Sunagakure's under attack!"

Kankurou stood up hurriedly, knocking the scroll off of his desk. "What? Is it Stone? Is Sound back?"

"No, sir. It's not another village," Shinji said shaking his head. "I don't know how to explain it but we're surrounded by wolves. The sand is still flying around out there so it's hard for us to retaliate. These things move super fast and they aren't affected at all by the storm."

"How many?" Kankurou asked. He had a sneaky suspicion it was Kirae. He wouldn't let her off as easy as Gaara did. He had no feelings for her except for his feelings of hatred. Karasu would deliver her a quick death.

Shinji looked at his leader with begging eyes. "H…Hundreds… Maybe a thousand. Kazekagesama…"

Kankurou closed his eyes tightly. "She had an army… Dammit. Mobilize all forces. Get people to the bunkers! These aren't normal wolves!" He tossed his hat down on the seat of his chair then slid onto the floor with a dull 'whump'. Kankurou went to his closet to get Karasu.

The alarms split over the storm and cut the air with their sharp wail. Aiki opened the door to the streets and looked outside. He had seen the wind die down but he was still buffeted with a harsh sandy breeze. He opened his eyes just a squint in time to see a large black wolf pounce on a Sand shinobi. His powerful jaw clamped tight on the man's throat before he could scream. The spray of red spattered the ground and mingled with sand. Aiki quickly shut the door. The wolf had two tails.

He felt sick to his stomach suddenly. "Uncle Kiba," he whispered abruptly. Uncle Kiba was in Sand because he knew about the Dairou. He knew that they would attack. The boy felt the fear grip his heart. He had never seen another of his kind beside his mother but suddenly his new home was full of them. And they were all killing the humans, like he had done. They were just as ruthless and bloodthirsty. That was his legacy. He was a murderer.

The memories of the people he murdered in cold blood flooded back to him. Their screams, the smells, the sounds all barraged his senses to the point he didn't realize that someone was calling his name. He gripped his head to keep the pain from consuming him.

"AIKI!" Shikamaru grabbed himn and shook him. The boy's eyes were full of fear and pain. "Aiki you have to get out of here. Come on, I'll take you to the others."

The boy wriggled from his grasp. "No….NO!" He scrambled down the hall a few steps. "Uncle Kiba... Kiba-sama knows how to stop this. He knew all along. That's why he hated me so much, because he knew. We have to find him!"

Shikamaru grabbed him by the arm. "Kiba's already left for Konoha! He can't help us now! Look, if something happens to you it will kill Gaara." He saw Fumi out of the corner of his eye. She was looking for someone or something. "FUMI!" She stopped and ran over to him.

"Dad, what's happening?"

"Fumi, take Aiki with you. Find Mo-kun. He'll know how to get to safety. Take care of your cousins. You're the oldest so you have the most responsibility in this situation."

"Dad?"

"Look, I don't have time. A lot of troublesome things have happened and this is the biggest of them all. Get going." He pulled a kunai from his pocket and looked at the door. There was a large thump against the wooden barriers. Fumi was fixed in place. The second attack knocked the doors down and the large black dairou was standing before them, blood and drooling dripping from his mouth full of dagger-like teeth as he grinned.

Shikamaru turned. "I said get going, dammit!" Fumi grabbed her smaller cousin by his sash and took off. He was barely able to keep up with her until he found his footing. The Leaf jounin turned back to the wolf. "This is why I like deer. So quiet and not nearly as troublesome."

Fumi dashed down the hallways calling our Mokumaru's name. "MO-KUN!" She turned down a hallway and was face to face with a scrawny brown Dairou. The wolf chuckled and licked his chops. The young girl let go of Aiki and grabbed her fan from her sash. "S-stay back."

"Now that doesn't sound very convincing," the wolf said with a sneer. He tensed up and jumped, only it was right into someone's knee. Fumi looked up and saw Shinji standing there, a single brown eye glistening from behind his bangs. The Dairou fell back dazed.

"Mokumaru's already heading to the bunker. I'll lead you there." Shinji was holding a nakinata in his left hand. He walked over to the wolf, which was just regaining consciousness, and beheaded it. "This way."

Fumi nodded and took Aiki's hand again. They didn't meet up with anymore wolves until they got to the trap door leading to the secret path. "This is it. You can hear the voices of the other still. So hurry up." Aiki went down ladder into the dark subterranean path first. Fumi followed soon after when they heard a deep howl. Down the hallway came two more Dairou. "Shit. This is going to be fun. Hurry up so I can replace the seal. If the wolves get down there it'll be my ass on the line." Fumi jumped down as Shinji closed the door. His reassuring smile was the last thing she saw before the door disappeared under the power of the seal.

Shikamaru ducked as the black dairou sailed over his head. The giant dog landed on his feet and whirled around. "Damn, you're agile," the dairou chuckled.

"Same to you," Shikamaru agreed as he stood up, hand in pocket. "Don't suppose, we can agree to disagree and settle this like two men… mammals?"

The dairou rolled his neck, cracking the joints. "Well, now. If I let you live, you'd stop me from killing everyone and if I stopped killing then I wouldn't be doing my job and that'd be a mistake." Shikamaru smirked. The dog closed his eyes. "…This whole war is a mistake…" When he opened his eyes, Shikamaru could not mistake the intelligent soul within. Like him, the wolf would rather be doing something else that did no involve killing, but someone had made him their tool for war.

"Nara…Shikamaru. From Konoha."

"Kurotsuki. Nara-san, please to meet you."

"Which way?" Fumi squinted. The path wasn't lit and the echoes were making it hard to tell where they voices were coming from. "Aiki, can you sniff out which way to go?" There was no answer, only the sound of whimpering. "Aiki?" She reached out for him and he shrank away.

"This… this is my fault…They're here because of me," he whined. She sighed and grabbed him.

"Don't have time for this!" She grabbed him and ran in an arbitrary direction. "If just pick a direction we're bound to run into someone." As they ran down the corridor they heard the sounds of battle above them occasionally, the ground would shake but Fumi kept them on their course.

Fumi finally sank to the ground, panting, after what seemed to be hours after the initial attack. "Geez, where do all of these paths go?"

"To the Great Cavern out side of the village," came Mokumaru's voice. He was in front of them holding a bright flare. "But we can't go there now. The tunnel caved in so have to find the other path out of Sunagakure. There we can head to another village.

"WHAT! And leave Suna to the dogs? You have finally lost it, Sabakuno Mokumaru," Fumi chided him. "We can't just leave. Our parents are fighting out there."

He stared at her expressionlessly for a few moments as if he didn't understand or care about what she said. "I don't know if we're thinking the same thing but…" He smiled excitedly. "Shall we show them what we've got?"

She grinned. "We are the only ones that have fought them before." Aiki made a noise somewhere between shock and a scream. He was still holding his head quivering. Sweat was pouring down his face.

"What's wrong with him?" Mokumaru asked approaching.

"The wolves," was Fumi's answer. "They're here for him."

Mokumaru seemed to think for a moment before forcing his cousin onto his back. "We can't leave him here and he'll just slow us down if we have to drag him." They started running down the tunnels.

"The Kazekage's home was under attack when we left."

"Yeah but that's not important. The people of Sunagakure are in danger." They rounded a corner and continued on. Fumi was unsure of where they were going but trusted that her idiot cousin knew his own village. "If everything should fall, this village will live in the power of it's survivors."

Fumi smirked. "That's poetic. But I'd expect nothing less of someone proud to be the son of the Kazekage." They came to a dead end and stopped. Mokumaru went up the wall and began to examine the wall. "What is it? Is there a trap door?"

"Uuuuh, no." He turned and walked past her nonchalantly. "I screwed up. Come on." It took all the will and resolve, Nara Fumi had not to tackle him to the ground and beat the snot out of him. He was always acting so important even when he screwed up!

Fifteen minutes later…

"Shoulda took a left back there. Whaddya know."

"MOKUMARUUUUUUUU!"

Kurotsuki jumped out of the way of the kagemane. "Getting caught by that jutsu would be a mistake, Nara-san." He panted heavily and galloped towards Shikamaru. He back flipped twice, two thin blades of wind developed and sliced their way towards the human. The blades it but instead destroyed a vase. "If you keep destroying the Kazekage's thing he'll get you." He turned his head behind him.

"Yeah, I know but I'm more worried about my wife in this case. If I get hurt, it'll be troublesome."

The dog lunged at him but Shikamaru held him at bay with his kunai. The fangs of the dog, dripped with saliva but the eyes was where Shikamaru was focusing his attention. They were blue and clear and staring straight at him. "Say…," he said between struggling, "you eyes are like the sky… Do you ever watch the clouds?" Kurotsuki answered by shutting his eyes and pushing back, forcing Shikamaru's back to the wall.

"Don't go trying to understand me human! We're not on the same level," he dashed forward. Shikamaru grabbed kunai from his thigh holster and flung them at the demon but he dodged everyone one. He jumped into the air and came down on his opponent. Warm blood flowed down the shadow ninja's arm. His last kunai was imbedded in the dairou's chest. His eyes were wide with shock, somehow he didn't expect it to end this way.

"You made… a mistake," he said sadly.

Kurotsuki smiled, his blue eyes softening. He coughed, blood spewing forth. Red tears seeped from his eyes. "Nara-san… I don't make mistakes." Shikamaru relaxed his arm as the full weight of the now dead oni on top of him. Idly, his other hand stroked the wolf's head, resting beside him.

"Shikamaru!" Kankurou ran over to him and looked down. "Are you-?" He stopped short when he saw that his brother-in-law was clearly holding back screaming out in anger.

"I'm going to kill her… for making us fight."

Kankurou merely nodded and helped pull the dead demon from on top of him. "We should go, Shikamaru. The town is being overrun… Temari is already out there."

"Right. They children should be in the bunkers by now." He collected his weapons. "Let's go."

By now, Fumi's patience was running on fumes. She vowed that that the next wrong turn was going to result in violence. However, it seemed the Mokumaru was finally correct. He put Aiki down and examined the ladder.

"Here we go," he said climbing up a ladder to a trapdoor. Inscribed on the wood was the kanji for 'weaponry'. He pushed it open and climbed out.

"'Bout time," Fumi muttered. She toed Aiki gently. "Go on, short stuff. I'm right behind you." Aiki looked up and complied quietly. She watched him disappear up the ladder, wondering idly what was going on in his mind and if she would see him transform again under the pressure.


	11. Chapter 11

In this chapter, Kankurou sneezes after Shikamaru says something about him. In Japan, sneezing after someone talks about you is the same as ears burning in America.

I didn't have to do much with this one but there's a flashback or two added. Please enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 11: Konoha arrives! Tides of Sand Turn

Shikamaru wiped a mix of sweat and blood from his brow. There were few wolves in the city, yet still it seemed awkward to him. He knelt down to examine one of the dead wolves. It was indeed much larger than any wolf he had seen.

He sighed and sat back on his haunches in exhaustion. He idly wondered where his wife was. It was very early in her pregnancy but no matter how he tried to convince her that she shouldn't fight, she demanded that she had to. A troublesome woman but the way she took out five of the wolves while yelling at him to stay out of her business made him smile.

His mind wandered over to his daughter. He hoped that she had escaped all right. The black dairou he faced was formidable but his face still lingered in his mind. Kurotsuki. He was probably one of the strongest that he had faced so far. Shikamaru fell back to lie on the rooftop he was on and look up at the sky. It was a clean slate of blue. Not a cloud.

"NARA! SHIKAMARUUUUU!" called a familiar voice. "OI! DAD, WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU!"

He jumped to his feet and peered over the edge of the building. Why were his daughter and Mokumaru running down the street and where was Aiki? He cursed under his breath and jumped between walls to land in front of them.

"What's happened? Why aren't you in the shelter?" he barked.

She hugged him tightly, tears on her cheeks. "Dad, it's not over! Those weren't really the demons!"

"What?"

Mokumaru looked around. "Where's the Kazekage? We have to warn him."

"Hey, can some one explain-"

"Aiki said that those weren't really demons," she cried. "They were just normal wolves infused with real demon chakra to make them stronger. This was only the first wave. He said they're coming now!"

Shikamaru almost choked. Why didn't he realize it before? Kurotsuki was a real dairou, all of the ones he faced after him were cheap imitations. The sandstorm was just a cover to weaken the village, the first wave of wolves were cripple it completely before the main army. "DAMMIT! Fumi get out of here. Where is Aiki?"

"That's the problem! After we got out of the tunnel he just ran off!"

_Mokumaru dusted himself off and looked around. They were standing in the storeroom of a the biggest weapon shop in Sunagakure no Sato. He opened the door and poked his head out. They store was completely abandoned._

"_Come on, it's all clear," he ordered. They all filed out of the storeroom and into the store. Fumi's eyes lit up at all of the shiny metal objects, twinkling around her like stars._

_She hugged her small cousin from behind. "Oh aren't they beautiful? Do you think daddy will buy me some if I'm a good girl and I kill a lot of demons?" she sung. Aiki forced her off of him causing the two older cousins to stop._

"_Don't you get it! This isn't even the real fight!" he screamed. _

"_Aiki…"_

_He doubled over and gripped his head. "Only a few of the demons now in this village are real. You can't tell because you're just humans but I can smell it! Those wolves are just enhanced with dairou chakra..." He looked at them desperately. "There just imitations!"_

_The two stared at him with disbelief on their faces. If what he said was true then… The boy transformed and crashed through a window, running away from them. Mokumaru and Fumi tried to follow him but he was no where to be seen._

_Fumi fell to her knees, overcome with a rush of emotions, none of them good. But there was an intense feeling of hopelessness and all she wanted to do was find her father and find hope._

Shikamaru growled and sank to the ground in front of his daughter. "I'll get you to the shelter first-"

"Can't," Mokumaru stated. "Tunnel to the Great Cavern is caved in somehow. So people have to take the tunnels to escape the city. That's why we came back."

"Another trap?…Dammit. What's happening! What is she trying to do?" Shikamaru's brain began to mill through all of the possibilities. "Okay, you guys come with me. We have to find Kankurou and Gaara." He sped off and the children followed.

Kankurou was standing at the front gates getting a damage assessment from one of his jounin. The news was bad but not terrible. Most of the citizens had escaped it seemed. No words from the jounin that helped with the evacuation but the city was pretty much cleared of all the attacking wolves. Still the report sat in Kankurou's heart uneasily. Kirae hadn't shown up at all. The attack seemed too organized to be random and too weak to be complete.

"I want everyone on alert. This isn't over. Find the evacuees and make sure they have supplies and doctors. Take them to the nearest village." The shinobi nodded and walked away. Gaara approached. The look in his eyes told Kankurou that they were feeling the same thing. "Find Aiki?" He shook his head.

Temari walked up with a grin and wiped her brow. "What's with the long faces? Didn't we just win?"

"Seemed a little easy, didn't it?" Kankurou crossed his arms. Temari frowned and considered this. "I say we keep on our toes. You guys might want to leave Sunagakure in case this gets to be too violent. You are pregnant, Temari." Gaara nodded in agreement.

"Oh, come on! You sound like my husband. I'm fine. I won't push myself too far and this is my home too, you know!" She gritted her teeth. "How can you ask me to abandon my hometown and my family?"

Kankurou sighed. "We're just thinking about your well being. Besides, I think I saw Shikamaru getting grey hairs. Might want to try not to worry him so much."

"Fat chance of that happening," came Shikamaru's voice. Mokumaru and Fumi were behind him. Temari's expression changed from shock to anger.

"FUMI!"

"I have an excuse!" the little girl defended. "Tell 'em, Dad."

"It's not over. The next wave is coming. Soon. Those weren't really oni. They were just infused with demon chakra to make them larger and stronger. Look." He pointed to a dead wolf. It was much larger than any normal wolf, as it lied there, chakra was coming off of it and the second tail that it possessed was beginning to disintegrate into the earth. There was stunned silence. "Aiki sensed it. He knew all along but I guess he was too afraid to say anything. The sandstorm wasn't real. It was caused by the wind powers of the Dairou but since we were all inside we couldn't sense the chakra in the wind. And the wolves that attacked right afterwards were just lucky? Unlikely. Another thing… the wolves we fought had one pair of eyes…not three.

"Kirae collapsed the tunnel to the Great Cavern so no one could escape there because she wanted the humans all in one place. They'll be easier to kill this way. Even realizing that, we'll have to split the forces- some to protect this village and other to protect the evacuees, further weakening our chances."

Kankurou clenched his fist. "She's making a fool out of us… Why didn't we see this before?"

"No one had any idea that she was this powerful," Shikamaru sighed. "Even Kiba. He knew but I don't think he imagined this or he wouldn't have left. He'll be kicking himself for this one."

"I should have known," Gaara said in a whisper. "But…Why was Dairouchimimaru collecting human warriors if he had so many wolves?" No one said anything. No one knew what to say. "Wait…Aiki? Where is he?"

Fumi looked ashamed. "He… he ran off and we couldn't catch him."

Gaara took off in a dead run but a heavy wind nearly pushed him off of his feet. Riding the currents was the sound of hundreds of howls. The second attack had come and there was Kirae, in full demon form, a towering wolf on the horizon.

"SIR! It's a demon! Oh my god….is that the Nine-tails?" called a sentry from his tower.

"No…" Kankurou whispered. "STOP HER! Don't let her near the city! Gaara!"

Gaara turned back to Kankurou. "…If I transform then the city will be in too much danger. It's too close! We have to drive her back!"

"We can't! We don't have enough manpower for that… We…"

Shikamaru cracked his neck. "We have to do the best that we can." Temari spread her fan. "Ready, dear?"

"Always. I expect to be spoiled rotten after this is all over. Not many men can say that they have such a fantastic wife."

Shikarmaru smiled. "I'll serve you hand and foot forever if we make it out of this alive." He looked at her.

"Silly, Nara. Don't go making promises you can't keep. I'll hold you too them, you know."

Kankurou looked back at his son. Mokumaru was facing the oncoming wolves. "I guess you're not going to run are you?" The boy shook his head. "Look, you can't die here. You've got too much of a life ahead of you."

"Shut up," Mokumaru replied like his dad. "Don't go saying stupid things. Protecting this village is the most important thing in my life. I won't die if you don't die either." He looked up. "Let's show them why you're the Kazekage, Dad." He flung his yo-yo down a few times.

"Yeah. I'll show 'em. And it will be the last thing they ever see. Brace yourself, people!"

Gaara ran ahead of the front line of sand ninja. "Get ready. I'm going to even these odds." He braced himself. He stretched his arms out in front of him. The veins bulged under the skin as he strained and the ground rumbled. A large wave of sand rocketed into the sky and curled towards the oncoming swarm. The wave cast a shadow over some of the ninja as it towered above them. Finally, Gaara made a motion as if he were pushing the wave over and the wall of sand crashed down with a loud swoosh. The back wave of air deafened the Sand ninja, who all turned away to shield themselves for the after effect of the awesome attack.

There was a cry of joy when things settled that soon faded into disappointment. Kirae and the power of the wind wolves had protected a good deal of their forces. Gaara's attack would have been devastating had not Kirae been in her demon form. Things looked grim once again.

The large demon raised her head and gave a deep and horrifying howl. The wolves beneath her rushed forward, the sounds of their bracelets jingling like armor. Kirae herself had more adornments than when Gaara had last seen her. And possibly more than Dairouchimimaru wore.

The village of Sand braced itself for the greatest attack it had seen in a long time.

Sabaku no Aiki sat in a dark alley, panting. Everywhere there was chaos. Every turned seemed to be marked with violence. The smell of blood filled the air. It excited something inside of him and that fact made him feel ill. He curled up and pressed his body against the cold adobe wall of a now empty business. When he heard the sound of his mother's howl, all hope was lost.

It seemed that every time someone tried to save him from her, she only returned more powerful than before. He badly wanted to find his father and find comfort in his arms but his legs wouldn't move, so he sought the concealing shadows instead. He could hear the battle when it hit the outer walls of the city. In a few hours, it was in the streets.

He covered his head and cowered whenever he heard the pounding of feet or the cries of someone or something dying. It was chaos all over again only this time the winner would take all. It was all his fault, he reasoned. He wished he had never saved Temari from the bad man. He wished he had never met Fumi and Mokumaru. And most of all, he wished he had never met his father.

"They're all going to die because of me," he whimpered. "It's…it's my fault." He dashed out of the alley, gripping his head. His vision was blurred but he saw before him a large silver dairou. "COME AND KILL ME! END THIS NOW!" He crouched down and covered his head. "I'm what you want. Just kill me and go away!" He could hear the feet galloping toward him.

"_Tsuuga!_" There was a thud, a whimper and a crash. Standing like a wild giant in front of him was Inuzuka Kiba. "I know you're not dead! Get up and fight, demon!"

The dairou rose to his feet and spit blood and a tooth away. "I can't believe I couldn't smell your foul stench, Inuzuka. I will enjoy killing you more than any of these weak humans."

"You're all talk. I'm going to make a new jacket out of your fur. Or maybe a rug for my dog to sleep on. How does that sound?"

The wolf simply growled and ran forward. He tried to bite Kiba in the face. On his hind legs, he managed to somehow be taller than the already lofty Kiba. The scarred muscles in the Konoha ninja's arms rippled as he tried to keep the large mouth from gripping down on his head.

"Kiba…Kiba-sama, run away! It's me that they want!" Aiki screamed standing up.

Kiba strained as he turned his head slightly to see Aiki. "Don't be stupid, kid. And I don't run away…..EVER!" He pushed the wolf back by kicking it in the ribs.

"This is the end, Inuzukaaaa!" The dairou was ready to attack again but a white flash dashed across the street and clamped down on the demon neck. Blood spurted from the demon's mouth as the white dog's canines found its mark. The demon flailed to dislodge his assailant but only caused more damage. He fell to his knees and opened his mouth to curse but fell dead before he could.

"Akamaru," Kiba called out jovially. "You late as usual."

The dog shook and trotted over to his friend and master. "Late? You couldn't handle that guy on you own? Maybe you need to train some more, Kiba." The human simply laughed and gave him a gentle punch in the head.

Aiki watched in confusion and awe. "I…I don't understand? Why did you come back? Didn't you know that they were coming? You ran!"

Kiba stood up and walked over to him, arms crossed. "I told ya. I don't run for nothing. Ever. I knew they were coming and I knew that Sand would be no match for Kirae on their own. So, Akamaru went to Konoha to tell Naruto and I rounded up a few wayward Inuzuka. This fight was a long time coming."

"I don't get it…"

Akamaru stared at Aiki intently. "In other words, it's not your fault, Gaara's little one. This fight isn't even about you. It's about us."

"And it's about time we settled this war once and for all," Kiba agreed.

"It's not about me?" Aiki asked. There was more howling but it was not the same. Aiki turned as over a dozen ninjas with dogs ran past him. One seemed similar to Kiba and she exchanged glances and a wave with him. As if in a formation they all moved in unison and dispersed in opposite directions at the same time.

"Oh get over yourself, kid. You and your dad were just tools to Kirae. She had this planned from day one."

Akamaru nudged Aiki and got him to stand. "Kirae new she couldn't take Konoha since that was the center of power for most of the Inuzuka but she assumed that taking Wind would be easy if she tread carefully. Take out the ninja village and rest of the nation would fall. Only thing stopping her was Gaara."

"Daddy…"

Kiba nodded and took over the narration. "Yeah. Everyone knows that Gaara is one of the only things keeping anyone for seriously attacking Sand. He's a death sentence waiting to happen. Kirae probably only wanted to make him fall in love with her but Gaara wasn't interested so she needed something else to hook him. And that something was supposed to be you." Aiki blinked.

"But you heart was too strong and too pure, Aiki," Akamaru said with a smile. "You should have been her weapon against Gaara. He would have been unable to kill you and he would have been rendered useless. But probably the bits of the Shukaku that got stuck in you made you drawn to find you father. Killing you would have been the worse thing we could have done." He glared over at Kiba. "Right, Kiba?"

"Hey! I was just trying to stop this whole thing from happening!" he yelled defensively. "Geez. So anyway… you don't have to worry about anything. Konoha's here to save Suna. I bet you feel pretty good about now. None of this is your fault." He shrugged.

Aiki blinked. "So… she really didn't love me. She just… And made me kill all of those people just to hurt Daddy?" Akamaru whimper a little in sympathy. "What should I do…I've done so many things wrong, Uncle Kiba…" The sorrow and frustration was evident on his face and in his voice. Tears were amassing in his eyes to make a run down his round face.

"Keep hiding. We have to end this fight. Akamaru, let's go." He sprinted ahead.

Akamaru turned to follow but hesitated. "You know Aiki… I think you're pretty strong. If I were you, I wouldn't let your Dad fight alone."

"But Uncle Kiba…"

"Uncle Kiba also drinks out of the toilet," he added with a doggy grin. Aiki looked surprised. Akamaru followed his master leaving the little boy to his own devices again.

Thoughts flashed in his mind, his mother's cruelty, Fumi and Mokumaru's unbreakable faith in their familial bond, the friends he had made, and most of all, his father. Everything that ended up hurting them was his mother's fault. She had made him the effective tool against both Sungakure and Konohagakure. The boy balled up his fist and growled. "I won't let you do this, Momma. I won't let you hurt anyone anymore. I'm going to kill you!" Yellow chakra swirled around him as he changed his forms into a large half-wolf. All three of his eyes opened.

Blood dripped out of Kuroari as Karasu impaled the wolf inside. Kankurou panted heavily, fighting was becoming difficult. He looked behind him. Shinji was protecting his back but his old friend was showing signs of fatigue. In a battle this decisive, one mistake could mean the end.

Kankurou pressed his back against Shinj's as back as the current pack of wolves closed in around them. "We have no where to retreat to…the city is overrun. I can't let this be the end!"

"Well, old friend," Shinji began. "If this is the end, I'm glad to be dying with my Kazekage covered in the blood of our enemies."

"Shut up! I made a promise not to die and I won't, so just shut up will you," Kankurou hissed.

"GATSUUGA!" came an unfamiliar battle cry. Suddenly, two swirling cyclones surrounded the Kazekage and his ally. The cyclones knocked aside the dairou with ease like striking snakes. When they seemed to be approaching the two, Shinji tried to protect Kankurou but the cyclones stopped and there were two grinning Kibas standing there.

"Long time no see. Thought I'd pay you back for saving my ass when we were 'brats'," Kiba said with a chuckle.

Kankurou's expression of surprise was replaced with a smile. "Crazy bastard. But you've come back too late. There's no way we can win this alone."

"You're not alone. The whole Inuzuka clan is here." He saw Kankurou about to speak and held up a hand. "We don't have time to talk. I'll tell you after we win."

Gaara stood before Kirae. The giant wolf looked down on him head inclined slightly. A small grin was stretched across her oversized mouth. No words were spoken between the two but much was said. His black rimmed eyes glared at her evil countenance. "Kirae…"

The ground beneath Gaara rumbled, he tried to keep his balance but that was the least of his worries as the earth shot up in front of him and encompassed him like a prison. "KIRAE!" He tried to used sand to pierce the wall of earth but it barely had any effect. He couldn't help but notice the walls were closing in on him and it wasn't an illusion. "KIRAE!"

Mokumaru was up to three yo-yo's, Fumi's fan was fully opened. "This is why I like deer. They quiet and they don't try to kill you!" She opened a scroll and tossed it in the air. Shurikens began to pour out but she swung her fan creating a gust of chakra-infused wind. "Shuriken Kaze no Jutsu!" The flurry of bladed stars imbedded themselves in everything around the two included the multitude of wolves.

"Time to walk the dogs," Mokun said with a grin. He flung the three yo-yos forward and they wrapped around the necks of three wolves. The dogs strained against the make-shift collars, dragging the small boy forward. "Don't think so!" He attached the chakra strings to the pillar of a building and quickly threw several explosion tags onto the base. Immediately the tags exploded and the pillar tipped over like a falling tree, and like a catapult, the moment pillar flipped over, the taught string flung the wolves up and overhead. Mokumaru grinned. "I lose more yo-yo's that way," he intoned non-chalantly with a shrugged.

"Mo-kun!" Fumi screamed at him. He turned around just in time to see the open jaws of a dairou descending on him. He closed his eyes and winced waiting for the attack but it never came. He opened his eyes and saw an older man with silver hair holding the wolf by the scruff of its neck. The wolf looked confused as well and allowed itself to dangle like an admonished puppy.

The man had a scar over his left eye, which was red. He had a lazy look to him but Mokumaru could tell that this was no ordinary shinobi. He had an orange book in his hand entitled "Icha Icha Shiken".

"Ah?… Who…"

Fumi ran over. "UNCLE KAKASHI!"

Mokumaru almost jumped out of his skin. "Kakashi! Hatake Kakashi! The Copy Ninja Kakashi? The Man That Knows Over 1,000 jutsu Kakashi?" He saluted like a soldier and stood stock still before the legendary shinobi.

The man put the wolf down and patted it on the head. "Don't forget handsome. Everyone always forgets that one," he drawled reading his book. "So what are you kids doing out here?"

"We wanted to help fight. We're doing pretty good but-" Fumi looked at the bewildered Dairou. The wolf looked at her and made a move to pounce on her but Kakashi sat down on his back forcing him to the ground.

"Well, you can take a break. Konoha's here to help." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a leather collar. With one hand, he swung it around the oni's neck and clamped it tight. "Looks like I got a new dog. Well…I better get back to fighting. Come on, Pochi." He stood up and started off, his hand in his pocket. The poor dairou didn't know what to do and continued to lie on the ground in a daze. Did that human just put a collar on him?

Kakashi turned and looked at the dog. "Mm, not as smart as I thought it'd be." Nudged he wolf with his toe coaxing it to stand. The wolf stood and began to follow Kakashi. "See you kids later."

Mokumaru stared at Kakashi in a starry-eyed mist. "He…is…so..cool. He's cooler than uncle Gaara! My new mission is to become as cool as that guy."

"Well, you can do that after we get out of here. Let's go find Aiki."

Gaara's sand struggled against the walls of dirt now crushing in on him. Sweat poured down his face as he strained against the push from outside. Already the walls were almost less than a foot away from him but he refused to give up. Suddenly there was the sound of cracking behind Gaara. He turned just as a fist came through. Without hesitating the sand took advantage of the new hole and quickly tore down the earth prison. Gaara panted and looked up.

Rock Lee was standing there, cracking his knuckles. "Gaara-kun, it's been a while."

"Lee?" The older jounin smiled and nodded. Gaara was never happier to see his bushy eyebrows. He could certainly count on Lee whenever things got tough. "…Lee, if you're here?"

"CHOUJI!" Shikamaru called up to the giant man. Chouji looked down and smiled, squashing several wolves in his fist and stomping on other. "How's it looking up there?"

"Good! Hey, how's the food here in Suna?"

"Decent. Want to have dinner after this is all over?"

"Who's treating?"

"My brother-in-law. He owes us."

Somewhere else Kankurou sneezed violently. Shinji looked over at him. "Allergic to dogs?" Kankurou shrugged.

Ino jumped down from a rooftop and landed near Shikamaru. "So were back together again."

"Seems like it." He said with a smile.

Kirae watched the humans swarm over the village of Sand and send her fellow oni back. Her plans were crumbling before her. In an attempt to sway the battle she began to thrash her tails. The wind generated picked up the sand and threatened to create another violent sandstorm, one that would bury Sunagakure and wipe it off the map.

"GAARA!" Lee crossed his arms in front of his face to protect it from the flying sand. Kirae began to howl as the ground rumbled. Her eyes were crazed. "GAARA! We have…..we have to-"The jounin found his feet being picked up off the ground and getting caught up in the wind. Gaara stood his ground, staring up at Kirae.

Sasuke and Neji stopped in the middle of their battle with the wolves getting blasted with sand and wind. Neji's byakugan could see that the wolves had a layer of air around them that made them impervious to the storm. "Sasuke! We've lost the advantage."

"I know! Where is this storm coming from?" A white blur passed between them. "Naruto?"

The Hokage stopped and turned. He was wearing a white jacket similar to the Yondaime's. His expression was hurried. "It's Aiki's mom! She's attacking. I have to help Gaara fight her!"

"That's nuts! Even with Gamabunta!"

Naruto pulled his cloak up to cover his eyes. "That's doesn't matter! I'm not letting him do this alone! We came here to help so that's what we have to do. Gaara would do the same for us, you know he would!" Neither Sasuke nor Neji could argue with this fact. Naruto turned and ran off.

"Sasuke, leave the wolves to me. You go with Naruto." Neji turned to the oni. Sasuke nodded and chased after his friend.

Aiki was again in his child form and running through the streets at a mad dash. The storm meant that his mother was attacking. The sand stung his delicate skin and made breathing hard but he was determined to find her. He was forced to stop, though, when a dairou jumped out in front of him snarling.

The young boy raised his hands. "Chikyuu Kyu!" The stone street liquefied and encased the shocked dairou. "I'm not concerned with you. Where is my mother!"

"TRAITOR! You are serving the humans."

"Where is she!"

"She's killing the one called Gaara of the Desert."

Aiki's heart skipped a beat. "No… No, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" He performed a few hand seals. "Ochikomiana!" The sand liquefied a second time, swirling like whirl pool, pulling the dairou down into the depression. Aiki ran past him, the wolf struggling to escape but inevitably find his death beneath the earth. "Daddy, don't die. Don't die. Don't die!"

Kankurou and Kiba finally cleared part of the town but the battle was still waging elsewhere. The sand was already filling the streets and pumping system wasn't working. In a matter of hours, the Village of sand would succumb to the dunes.

"We have to leave the village…" he murmered into the wind. "We can't win. DAMMIT!"

Kiba punched a wall. "We're not leaving! We need time. We can stop this but it will take at least an hour to get in position!"

"We don't have that time!" Kankurou released the strings on his puppets, now uselessly filled with sand. "Kiba, I understand your feelings but we're at the disadvantage."

"NO! I didn't come here to fail! I came here to stop her!"

"KIBA!" Akamaru was looking into the distance. "It's Aiki!" The boy was battling against the wind and finally collapsed to his knees. The dog ran over and blocked the wind with his body. "Hey. Kid, are you okay?"

Aiki coughed and rubbed his eyes. "I gotta go help Dad. I'm sorry, Uncle Akamaru."

"Quiet. Come on, we'll go together." Aiki climbed on his back and the large white dog carried him over to the others. "Where's Gaara?"

"Probably fighting Kirae. She's still outside the village!" Kankurou answered.

Kiba watched his dog run off. "Ever since that day, he's felt guilty about this whole situation. He vowed to end it."

The wind became more and more unbearable the closer they got to the large wolf demon. Naruto almost tripped on Rock Lee's half unconscious body, buried to his neck in sand. He knelt down and shook the taijutsu specialist. "Fuzzy Eyebrows! Hey! Wake up!"

Lee opened his eyes and struggled to sit up, pushing the heavy layer of sand off his body. "Gaara! He's still there…fighting." He yelled. Naruto nodded.

"We gotta help him. Can you stand?" Lee jumped to his feet, re-invigorated.

Sasuke joined them. "We can't see anything in this storm. I wish Neji had come along."

Naruto continued headlong into the storm driven by his desire to save his friend. He almost ran into the red-haired jounin. It looked as though he was in the Tanuki Neiri no jutsu but he wasn't the Shukaku. Naruto heard him chanting and saw his hands. Instantly, he came to the realization what Gaara was doing.

"No! Gaara, that jutsu-!" Gaara was already well into the jutsu and the damage would be done. Naruto thought to his father and to the Third. "No, I'm not losing you too!"

_Hinata walked in on Naruto sleeping in the scroll room. He was surrounded by research materials and notes he had made. She paused when she stepped on one describing the Shinigami. "Naruto… this is…"_

"_Never again" he whispered with a smile. His eyes were barely open as he looked at her._

"_Is this what you've been studying all week? You've barely slept over this?" She shook her head with concern. "This jutsu…"_

_He held out his hand to her. From his point it eclipsed her almost entirely. "I lost precious people to this jutsu. So I thought…what if I could counter it? What if I could trick death itself?"_

"_Naruto!"_

_He smirked. "Using power from your own soul, you can seal someone or something. But the cost is your life… Hinata… I'll never use that jutsu… but I refuse to lose someone again because of it." He closed his eyes and let his hand drop. "I'll counter no matter what…"_

Naruto closed his eyes and began to rapidly perform handseals. His hands were a blur as went from one seal to the next, trying to catch up with Gaara. The counter relied on him synchronizing with the user.

There was a large howl that resonated all over the village, stopping all living things in their tracks. Hinata was treating some shinobi with Sakura. The howl chilled her to the bone. She looked at Sakura and the pink-haired medical ninja nodded. Hinata took off in a dead run in the direction of the howl.

The sandstorm suddenly stopped. Sasuke and Lee ran in the direction that Naruto had head and stopped. Kirae's demon body was shaking. Gaara stood before her, an old iron kettle between them. Naruto was behind Gaara on his knees. Kirae fell down and her body began to disintegrate into earth.

There was a distinct bark behind them. Akamaru, Kankurou, and Kiba were heading their way. Gaara fell to his knees numbly, eyes staring blankly into the distance, seeing nothing.

Sasuke reached a hand out. "Gaara!"

Aiki seeing his father fall jumped off of Akamaru's back and stumbled as he tried to run across the shifting sands. "Daddy!" Naruto stood up and stopped the boy before he could reach his father.

"Aiki…" he said in a wavering voice. "He can't hear you." Naruto had tears streaming down his face.

"What do you mean? Does he have sand in his ears? I'll yell louder. DADDY!"

Naruto knelt down and gripped the little boys arms. "He can't….He…"

Aiki titled his head in confusion. "Don't worry, Uncle Naruto. If I hug him, I know it'll be okay. Because he loves me and he says that can heal anything." Lee clenched his fists at his side. Kankurou simply stared at the motionless body of Gaara.

"Ai…" They all turned. Aiki cheered up. Slowly and mechanically, Gaara turned his head. He had a small smile. He looked at his son, remembering his laugh, his smile, and knowing the misery his sacrifice would cause him and fell forward.

"GAARA!" Kankurou ran forward and shook his younger brother on the back. "No…you can't die like this!"

Aiki's eyes widened. "Daddy?…Daddy… DADDY!" He struggled to escape Naruto's hold and eventually Naruto let him go, arms weakly falling to his sides.

Soon Leaf and Sand ninja's were circled around. Temari pushed her way through and looked down to see her baby brother, pale and cold on the hot desert sands. She backed away from the scene and put her hand over her mouth to hide her scream. Shikamaru hugged her from behind tightly. Mokumaru and Fumi appeared between their legs.

"Dad? What's going on?" inquired Mokumaru. "What's wrong with Uncle Gaara?" No one spoke. "Dad….No way…"

Aiki gripped his father chest, sobbing. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't save you! I couldn't save you!"

Hinata arrived and immediately went over to Gaara. "What happened!"

"I wasn't fast enough," Naruto moaned looking the hands that had failed him. "I should have stopped him from summoning the Shinigami but I didn't perform the counter right…" He clenched his fist and clenched his teet. "I broke my promise…I said never again!"

Everyone watched Hinata with a heavy heart. She wanted to save Gaara as much as everyone else but especially so that she could help Naruto's promise. She began checking his vital signs. "He still alive….barely…he might not make it." She spoke strongly and firmly. Her mission was clear: Save Gaara at all costs. "I need to get him to a hospital. Everyone move out of the way!"

Aiki backed away and wiped the tears from his eyes. Sand medics came and put Gaara on a stretcher. Hinata stayed at his side as they carried him away. Naruto punched the ground. "Gaara….don't die. Don't die. Don't die! No one believed in us. We have to keep living to protect those we love. Don't die because you still have someone to protect!" Naruto looked at the little brown-haired boy before him.

Wolves appeared on the horizon slowly. Naruto stood up, kyuubi chakra burning all around him. "You better get out of here. I'm freaking pissed off and I'm waiting to take it out on something."

"Wait, human," a large white dairou cautiously approached. "You have slain our leader and we are not here to fight. We originally did not agree with Kirae no Mikoto's desire to subjugate you."

"You violated are sacred pact, dogs!" Tsume Inuzuka spat. "Give us one reason not to kick your ass!"

"We are aware of this and we apologize but what is done is done. The boy will become our new leader as Kirae no Mikoto's only and first born."

Kiba's breath caught. "No! You can't! The power is too strong! You might kill him!"

The white oni shook his head. "It's too late. The transfer of power is already beginning. It is the will of nature that he should rule and there is nothing we can do to stop it."

Aiki's eyes went wide and he scrambled to get away from the wolf. "No. I don't want-"He stopped and looked at his arms. Gold bracelets were appearing on his wrists, as were rings.

Kiba grabbed the Dairou by his scruff. "Make it stop!"

"You know that we can't do that! It's the way it is done. Kirae is still victorious in the end. The boy will become the new leader. Her legacy has been passed."

Fumi ran over to Aiki but he pushed her away. His eyes were yellow and swirling like the Shukaku. "Stay….back." He gripped his head shaking. Wolfen ears grew from his head. His canines grew. He was clearly struggling to control the power now surging in his body. A gold collar was forming around his neck.

Naruto gritted his teeth. Blue fire burned at his fingertips. "Gogyoufuuin!" He rushed over and pressed his hand against Aiki's stomach. The wind knocked out of him the boy fell over unconscious. The skin on his stomach hissed from chakra burn as a seal was placed over his stomach.

Temari ran over to him. "Aiki! Naruto, what have you done!"

"He's fine….Whatever power is left…it's sealed. He'll just have to learn to deal with his current strength like I did…I'm sorry, Gaara. It's all I could do."

Kiba turned to the Dairou. "It's time to make a new treaty…" The white wolf nodded.


	12. Chapter 12

With this now finished, the sequel "Shin Genin Monogatari" (formerly the New Genin) can be re-written with the new timeline and it'll be very different. Thank you for being patient with me but I really wanted all of this to be a great fanfiction series. School has been keeping me from updating very well.

* * *

Chapter 12 (Finale): A New Legacy

Gaara opened his eyes. At first his vision was very blurry. Everything blended into everything else. His eyes felt crusted over but when he tried to raise his hand to rub his them he found his hand and arm felt heavy though, he lethargically managed to clear his eyes. Once again he opened his eyes and the objects around him became sharper. It was a hospital room; white and sterile. The sun shone through between pale green curtains and a hot breeze let him know he was in still Sunagakure. He could see the tops of the roofs outside and hear voices of people in the streets below.

He flashed back to standing before Kirae. Running through his mind were the memories of his life; Yashamaru's love and then betrayal, his father's unkindness, endless killing, the fight with Naruto, saving Rock Lee, Temari leaving Sand, Kankurou becoming Kazekage, then Aiki, all of the memories he cherished as important and the people worth saving. He had spent so much time in the libraries studying jutsu that when he came across the forbidden sealing on he couldn't help but to learn it. At first out of curiousity but he revisited the scroll after meeting Kirae and his son.

"Aiki…" he murmured breathlessly. As the life was being pulled away from him and darkness covered him, he could hear his small voice calling out to him. Kirae's body turning to dust was not the last thing he wanted to see. So he returned to life, for just a second, he begged for just _one_ more second, so that he could see… his son.

Gaara closed his eyes again, a tear leaking from the corner of his eye. He remembered the expression on his face. In trying to secure a better future for the timid child, he ended up causing him a great deal of pain. It was a father's ultimate sacrifice, he reasoned. It would be okay in the future, he was sure of it. But for now…

"Where am I?" he spoke aloud in a hoarse voice. He tried to sit up, his body weighted down by inactivity. Indeed it was a hospital room not the belly of a death god. "Hospital…" He groaned and held his head. The grogginess he felt was giving him a headache. He opened his pained eyes and notice one of the reasons his body felt so heavy. Lying on top of him was Aiki, sucking his thumb, tears and snot dried on his face from many nights of crying.

Unbelieving, Gaara put his hand on the boy's head and felt his warmth. His hair was soft, but still wild and matted. His skin was soft and hot. He was alive, not a mirage or a memory made real. Gaara touched his own face. It felt the same, hot and smooth. "I'm alive…But…I should be dead…"

Aiki stirred in his lap, attempting to crawl up his chest without actually waking up. Gaara gently eased him into his arms and held him tightly, looking into his sad face. Aiki opened his dark-rimmed eyes and yawned, cuddling tighter into the grip. "Daddy…"

"Hm?"

He looked up with utter disbelief. Gaara was looking down at him curiously awaiting his response. Aiki's face went through a gamut of emotions: shock, joy, doubt, joy, and finally unfettered glee. He hugged his father tightly and lost control of his form in the process. The small puppy his in arms licked his face eagerly and whined. Gaara laughed and enjoyed the wet kisses washing his face.

The door opened and Temari entered looking solemn at first. She was carrying a bouquet of flowers to replace the wilting bunch next to her brother's bedside. When she looked up to see what had gotten Aiki excited she abandoned the flowers to the floor and launched her self to the bedside.

"OH MY GOD! GAARA!" She sobbed and hugged him. She looked him over to see if it was really him, or had she walked in the wrong room. The red kanji was there, the green eyes with black circles were there, the red hair was there. Gaara in all his Gaara-ness was there, alive and well. So she hugged him again and again, saying his name over and over so that nothing would change.

Eventually, the commotion the two raised caused the others to enter. Rock Lee's jaw hit the ground and practically went through the floor. "YOU-! I KNEW YOU WOULDN'T DIE!" He jumped in the air and performed a dance around the room, celebrating as though he had just been made Hokage.

Gaara opened his mouth to speak, before he could protest the other kids came in. Fumi screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped on the bed and squeezed her way between her mother and cousin to share in the hugg. "UNCLE GAARA!" She screamed again, almost deafening him. Mokumaru was paralyzed at the door until he realized he wasn't on the bed hugging his uncle for all he was worth and soon his body was added to the dog pile of affection. Gaara tried to hug them all in turn and assure him that he was fine but they were ignorant of his protests and need for fresh air.

"HEY! Look everyone! Gaara's awake!" called Naruto from the door. He went over to the bedside and tried to get a good look at his friend but he was eventually frustrated by how everyone managed to get in his way. Finally, when he thought he had and opening Hinata arrived at the door and was in morbid shock.

"EVERYONE OFF THE SICK MAN!" she barked in a voice most besides her husband and children did not know she was capable of. All bodies stopped and moved aside. Aiki remained in Gaara's lap, sure that at the very lease _he_ should be able to stay as close to his father as humanly possibly.

Hinata went to Gaara's side and poked and prodded him. She checked his eyes, throat, ears, pulse, respiration, and everything else that could be checked in short order. She stepped back and seemed deeply contemplative. She leaned close to him and gave the hero of Sunagakure a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush.

"Welcome back, Sabakuno Gaara," she said with tears in her eyes.

Naruto went to her side, happy that his wife had so much pull in the hospital room. "She worked all day and all night for three days straight to stabilize you. You really have to thank Hinata here for saving your life."

"But…How? I performed the Forbidden Jutsu to-" His shirt was suddenly gripped by the Hokage. Naruto pulled him in nice and close, an intense glare on his face. Gaara swallowed unconsciously.

"If…you ever…do that again…I'm going to wipe Hell with your face! Got it, you bastard?" Gaara nodded and found himself pulled into a warm embrace. "I don't want to lose someone else I love to that jutsu. I made a counter to it just in case. I almost didn't make it and neither did you. I love you so don't die so carelessly."

Gaara raised his arms and hugged his friend back. "Hey… I'm sorry. I guess I was acting as blockheaded as you do sometimes." The pulled back and Naruto grinned broadly.

Kankurou poked his head in the room. He was dressed in his black jumpsuit of old, holding scrolls in one hand. "What the hell is going…on…," he looked at his brother sitting up in bed, "here?"

"Hey, bro!" Gaara waved with a hand. The older brother walked over, his face hard to read. He sat at the edge of the bed and poked Gaara in the forehead. He then pinched both of his cheeks and pulled slightly. "Ow."

"Did that hurt?"

"Yeah, kind of," Gaara rubbed his cheeks. Kankurou smiled at him warmly and put and arm around his brother.

He rested his forehead against his younger brother's so that their green eyes met. "Gaara… God, I missed you." Gaara thought he saw the beginnings of tears forming but didn't have to time to be sure before he was placed in a headlock, with Kankurou's knuckles digging into his skull. "AND IF YOU _EVER_ PULL ANOTHER HAIRBRAINED **STUNT** LIKE THAT AGAIN, I AM GOING TO _PERSONALLY_ SEE TO IT THAT YOU REGRET IT!" He let go. "Got it?"

"I got it! I got it! I just got up and that's how you greet me. Some brother you are." He rubbed his head and glared at Kankurou. The tears were real. One escaped and slid down his cheek.

Kankurou smiled at Gaara. "Dying for a greater cause is the Kazekage's job, little brother."

"I know…"

"So, after talking to the Council of Elders, it was unanimously decided that you should be Kazekage!" He dropped the large hat on Gaara's head and slid of the bed, dusting his hands together. "Man! I feel a million pounds lighter. Good job, little brother."

"Wait. What!" He tilted the front of the hat up to get a better view of his brother.

"Yep. You're Kazekage, and I'm a jounin. For the next, however many years, you get to order _me_ around. Just like old times!"

Gaara blinked. "But…the Shukaku…"

"Is gone." Naruto added. "The Shinigami needs a sacrifice right? The counter I performed used part of his power to give to the Shinigami and the rest is sealed with Kirae in the pot. You've been peacefully asleep for a month, recovering."

"It's…gone?"

Shikamaru picked up a needle, from the bedside and held it out to him. "Here, try to cut yourself." Gaara took the needle and held out his finger. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, fear and anticipation staying his hand. Gingerly, he plunged the tip into his finger. No sand rushed up to protect him, only crimson red blood. He put his finger in his mouth to suck the wound.

"It's mostly gone but for some reason, the sand reflex is still there sometimes," Naruto continued. "On the way to the hospital something curious happened. A piece of building fell and almost hit you and the aides but the sand flew up and blocked it. I was surprised and I don't understand why it happened."

Gaara took his finger out of his mouth and looked at it. "I don't know either." Aiki took the over large hat off of his father's head and tried to put it on his own. The hat was nearly as big as he was. Gaara tilted it up to look at him. "I'm Kazekage now."

"This hat is dumb looking, Daddy," Aiki complained with sheer dissatisfaction.

Gaara glared accusingly at Kankurou. "See! I told you. I'm not wearing this stupid thing."

Kankurou grinned. Mokumaru on his shoulder put his father's traditional hood on. They both pulled down their bottom eyelids and raspberried Gaara. "Now Uncle Gaara gets to look stupid!"

"That's right, my boy. Let's see how all those years of staying awake help him on those late night reports. HA!"

Gaara growled and took the hat off of Aiki, putting it to the side. "Sic 'em."

Aiki grinned and returned to his four-legged form. Kankurou took the boy off of his shoulders and put him down so that he could be chased. Aiki barked and much to Hinata's dismay turned the hospital room into a field for tag. Fumi, not wanting to be left out of the festivities tried to jump in but found her self dangling by her ponytail.

"OW! Letmego! Let. Me. Go!" She yelled as she struggled.

Shikmaru let go and put his hands on his hips. "No way. You have caused me enough trouble to last you a lifetime. You had better be on your best behavior for the rest of your life, little princess."

"But-"

"But is worth zero. Sit it down and shut up."

"Tyrant!"

"Headache!"

Gaara watched them fight and watched the kids play and smiled. He grabbed the hat of the Kazekage and brushed it off idly with the back of his hand. Aiki gave a yell as Kankurou tipped him upside down. For the first time, Gaara saw that the bracelets on his arms and legs had nearly doubled.

"Those bracelets…"

Silence reigned. Naruto scratched his arm. "When Kirae died, she tried to pass the power of the Dairou on to Aiki. I sealed up as much as I could but it was too much, he still got some of it. While you've been out, we've been trying to help him control what little he has loose but it's been tough."

"I accidentally destroyed part of your new house, Daddy. Uncle Kankurou was mad but I think he's over it now," Aiki explained from his upside-down status.

Kankurou grinned. "Damn right I'm over it. You just inherited an assload of work. Congratulations."

Gaara sighed. "Lazy as ever." In spite of the situation, he was now in he couldn't help but to smile. "I'm so glad to be back."

Several weeks after his recovery, Gaara was seated behind his new desk staring at a tower of paperwork that needed his review and approval. He plucked a page from the top of a file and looked it over. He signed it and set it aside. He would not enjoy sleep for a long time.

He was already through a third of it when the door burst open. Aiki ran over to him, panting, naked, and wet from his bath. He climbed up into Gaara's lap, getting him and some of his paperwork wet.

"Dad, save me!"

"What? From who?"

Temari was standing at the door in an apron holding a comb and scissors. "Sabakuno Aiki, get over here right his instant."

"No way!"

Gaara looked at the door. "What's going on?"

She sighed and sat down in front of his desk. "You inauguration is tonight, so I thought I'd give him a haircut. Look at how long it is and it's all in tangles. It's broken three combs already so I'm cutting it short." Aiki's hair was to his shoulders and spiked all over. Clearly it needed to be groomed but the little demon half was not ready for that kind of trauma.

"No! WAY!" Aiki yelled. Gaara put his hand on the boy's head to silence him.

"Let her cut it. It's a mess and it does need a trim. Don't worry it'll grow back."

Aiki looked slightly betrayed and gave a dirty look to the glimmering scissors. He pouted thoroughly and slid off his father's lap and sulked over to Temari. Like a cat, she snatched him up in one arm and the tools for his haircut in the other hand. "Thank you, Kazekage."

Gaara nodded and went back to his work but not long after the door opened again and Kiba entered. He was in a good mood and sank into a chair. He took a deep breath and handed a scroll to Gaara.

"What's this supposed to be?"

"The new treaty with the Dairou and my clan. We need your signature?" The Kazekage opened the scroll and read it slowly. "It took a while to agree on some things but I think you'll agree that it's a pretty good treaty. Since Aiki, holds all their power, they're at his mercy and since he's half-human, any attacks and humans or human nations is punishable by death. Pretty good, huh?"

"Is there anyway to get rid of the demon power in Aiki?"

Kiba frowned. "No… there's absolutely nothing we can do about it."

"He'll be hunted."

"Unavoidable."

Gaara sighed. "I want him to have a good life."

"He is and he will. We all will make sure of it but the life of a ninja is a perilous one. In time, he'll understand that just like you and Naruto have done." The two mean looked at each other for a moment. Gaara signed the scroll and handed it back to Kiba. "Congratulations, Kazekage. Don't be a stranger and come to Konoha sometime when you're not busy." Gaara nodded.

He finished his paperwork and stood up from his char. His robes fell around his feet as he left his office. Immediately, Temari ambushed him with a comb and brush. "Your inauguration is in thirty minutes and you're not even ready!"

Aiki was behind her, pacified with a rice ball. His hair was still a mass of spikes but it was untangled. He had a small ponytail behind his neck. He cheeks were pink indicating that he had won a portion of his battle with strategic wailing. His outfit had changed to accommodate his new jewelry. He wore a sleeveless red shirt with a wide and tall collar and baggy black shorts. He kept the white and red sash but changed the shoulder it hung from. Gaara smiled but Temari pulled him towards the outside.

"Do you remember your speech?"

"Speech?"

"Gaara!"

He smirked. "Joking. I remember." She gave him an annoyed look and adjusted his clothes one more time. With a proud smile, she sighed then kissed him on the check. "Thank you."

"Do you best, Kazekage." He nodded and opened the doors. There was immediate applause and cheering.

Kankurou nudged him in the ribs before he stepped forward. "Seems like I'm always in your shadow."

"Because you're always pushing me onward. I might need your support in the future."

"Little brothers are such brats. You're village is waiting."

"Dadddy?" Aiki was holding the hat in his hands. "Don't you want to wear this?"

Gaara looked visibly disgusted. "I thought I threw that in the tr-" He paused, Kankurou giving him a suspicious look. "…Uh…sure." He took the hat and put it on, stepping to the middle of the stage to address the Village of Sand as their leader.

Hinata shook a bottle of pills and placed it in the hands of the small boy. She gave him a kind smile and helped him off of the hospital bed. "Take one of these every night before bed. Don't forget or you might be consumed by the demon blood inside of you."

The boy shook the bottle and held it up to the light. The small white pills seemed to sleep snugly in the blue glass container. He gave them a shake as if to wake them but they settled quickly to the tilted down side. "Will these really help me?" He asked, slightly unsure that such lethargic pills would contain the will of a demon wolf. Hinata nodded, pushing some stray black hair back behind her ear. Aiki put the pills in his pocket and looked up at her. "Um…Hinata. You're leaving today aren't you?"

"Yes, we've already been here for a long time. We have to go back to Konoha." Aiki looked down slightly sad but her hand on his head reassured him. "Don't worry, you'll come and visit us, won't you?" The boy nodded several times to reassure her that had every intention of seeing her and the rest of the Konoha ninja's again. She smiled at his innocent face, still chubby like an infant's. Though his eyes had seen much horror and pain, but still maintained an optimistic outlook. Somehow, just like Naruto had learned to do.

Gaara was panting heavily, sweating more than he had in years. Lee was standing before him in the excellent shape of a man who's entire life centered around the abilities of his body. "Okay, Gaara. One more time! From the top! Then we'll run 5 miles to cool down!" They were going through drills to increase Gaara's reflexes with the sand and increase his stamina. The Kazekage was a superb student, catching on quickly to the routine, limited only by the novelty of the situation, but Lee was too easily excited.

"Lee," Gaara began, swallowing hard before resuming his labored breathing, "Lee, I can't do this much longer or I'll pass out."

"But-but we just started…"

"Just started?" Gaara yelled in disbelief. "Lee, that was five hours ago!"

"You're just out of shape from being in bed so long," Lee reassured, waving his hand dismissively. "Once you warm-up things will be easy." Gaara sank to the ground. It was obvious his friend was not listening. Neji shook his head as he stood next to Shikamaru.

"No matter what he says, Lee trains harder than any normal person." He put his hands in his pockets. "Gaara had better chances fighting demons than he does training with Lee.

The ponytailed ninja nodded. He cupped his hands around his mouth in a make-shift megaphone. "HEY! Lee, cut it out! Not everyone's a 'genius of hard work', you know," Shikamaru called out as he scowled.

Lee turned from Gaara and crossed his arms. "Don't you understand? Gaara is Kazekage. It's up to him to protect Sand so he has to be in tip-top shape."

Shikamaru sucked his teeth. "Just because he lost the Shukaku, doesn't mean he's helpless. Gaara, if you overdo it, Temari's going to kill you."

The prospects of his sister giving him an earful did not appeal to Gaara. He stood up and took his gourd off his back. "He's right. Let's finish here, Lee. I'll train later." Lee nodded relunctantly, shooting Shikamaru a disproving look. The lazy ninja did not seem to notice. Aiki approached them sucking on a child's sports bottle with a duck mascot on the front. Gaara was thankful to see his face and knelt to one knee to greet him. "Hello, son."

Sweet was pouring down Gaara's face and pooled under his eyes and around his lips. Aiki held his bottle out to his father. "Are you done training, Daddy?" Gaara nodded as he took the bottle. In one turn of the bottle, he gulped down the rest of the water. Still, his body felt parched. "Can I train with Uncle Lee, too?" They adults looked at each other and shrugged.

Lee knelt down, placing his bandaged hand on the boy's head. "What do you want to do?"

"Oh, I want to play Fetch, Uncle Akamaru says that it'll make me stronger."

Shikamaru let out an exasperated breath. "I wish that kid wouldn't look up to a dog for advice," he muttered to no one in particular though Neji heard him.

"Well, at least he hasn't taught him the 'Advanced Marking Technique."

With a flourish, Lee took a kunai from his pouch at his thigh. "Right. Well, let's see how long it takes you to retrieve this kunai that I throw. Do you think you can do that?" Aiki punched his open palm with a nod. Lee pulled his arm back and with all of his strength he threw the kunai into the distance, over several houses in fact. Neji facepalmed as Aiki took off, kicking up dust in his wake.

"Lee…you…you overdid it again," Gaara sighed. Surprisingly, Aiki returned with the kunai in his mouth a few minutes later. He took it out and held it up to Lee, who looked down with a little surprise.

"Again!" Aiki had his tails wagging behind him and his ears pricked high above his head. When we excited, his two natures seemed to merge and he would reveal some of his wolfen features. Lee again threw the kunai only to have Aiki jump in the air in front of them and catch it. The young boy dropped the weapon at in his 'uncle's' hand. "Again!"

Lee scratched his head. How could he get the better of this kid? He looked at Aiki. The boy was swinging his arms looking up expectantly. "Heh. You're pretty fast, little Gaara, but let's see you catch two at once." Lee took out another kunai and threw them in two opposite directions. Aiki caught the one in front in his hand and immediately dropped it. He turned quickly in air and stumbled as he landed but jumped once he gained his footing and using Lee as a launching pad aimed for the second one, changing into full wolf form. He descended on the kunai, catching it in his mouth. He trotted next to Lee and dropped the kunai. Aiki barked expectantly. Lee's competitive spirit was becoming aroused. Neji, seeing this decide he had seen more than enough and walked away.

"Leaving?" Shikamaru asked. His answer was a simple nod. "Ah, take care then. Tell Ten-ten I'll be seeing her in a few days as well." Neji nodded and left. Gaara took the time of watching his son play with Lee to relax. He noted Shikamaru and approached him.

"Thanks."

"Hm? For what?"

"Everything. I owe you my life and the life of my son." Gaara explained.

"Ah, forget it. We're family now, right? I'm glad my in-laws are so nice, y'know?" Shikamaru smiled and smacked Gaara on the shoulder. The Kazekage smiled back then looked back at his friend and son, engage in a game of tag. Lee was the 'oni' and Aiki was at his heels, barking.

"I might need your help again…Soon."

"Eh?"

Gaara's red-hair was pushed into his eyes by the wind and he brushed his face to clear it of hair. "Well, I was talking to Naruto…and we decided that maybe it would be good if Aiki would study in Konoha and-"

Shikamaru raised his hand to cut his brother-in-law off. "He needs a place to stay? He's got one. You forget, we were taking care of him before you even knew he existed."

"Ah…Yeah. I guess so…" Gaara laughed in spite of himself, just when he felt something latch onto his leg. He looked down. Aiki pulled his wrist.

"You're it!"

"What? No, I'm really tired, son. I-"

Aiki didn't seem aware of the extensive training that Gaara had jut underwent. "You're it! You're it! Just for a little while."

"I'm sorry but no." Gaara pulled his arm away. Aiki looked back slightly admonished. He put his finger up to his lip and toed a hole in the ground. The guilt trip was super effective. "…Well… For a little while but I have work to do so-!" Gaara couldn't finish as he was dragged away into battle."

Months later…

The adjustment to life was not all easy for the Sabakuno Family but somehow the managed well enough. Aiki didn't so much mind the stares that he received from the villagers or the rumors. However, recently, he couldn't ignore his headaches. Once he awoke to find his room completely destroyed after he blacked out. Hinata suggested that they increase the dosage of his medication and that seemed to do just fine. Things slowly returned to normal.

Aiki was walking down the hallways to find Gaara. There was a meeting of the elders that had been going on for nearly three hours. He hoped that it would end soon so that they could play as Gaara promised. A maid slipped out of the meeting room carrying and empty pitcher and rushed down the hallway passed him. Aiki looked to the door, which was now slightly open, thanks to the hurried maid. He approached it and crouched down in hopes of catching a bit of the conversation within.

"Kazekage-sama, we understand your hesitation but even you must recognize the boy is dangerous," came a voice Aiki didn't not recognize. He didn't know most of the elders on the council. He avoided them because they always looked at him with cold eyes.

"It's not that we don't like him," an older voice responded. "He's a charming child, but recent events cannot be ignored… if his condition worsens…"

"We can take care of it," Gaara answered strongly. "Hinata-sama has agreed to continue treating him." Aiki's heart jumped. His suspicion was confirmed; they were talking about him. He tried to remain calm so that he could hear what was said over his churning stomach and rapidly thumping heart. What did they want Gaara to do with him?

"Kazekage-sama! Be reasonable! We had to up his dosage by nearly three times the strength. No parent wants him to be in the academy with their children. The complaints we've received have been adamant."

"I'm not abandoning my child. If I could deal with it, then so can he."

"Kazekage-sama…"

A shadow fell over Aiki. "What are you doing?" Kankurou asked curiously. The little boy stood up and walked passed him muttering something quietly. Kankurou watched him walk away feeling perplexed.

Not many people braved the noon day sun of the desert, especially not sitting on a roof watching what little was going on. So that was what Aiki was doing in the face of his racing thoughts. Events were again trying to tear apart his world. What if he was forced to leave Sunagakure and his family? Or worse?

He stood up and walked to the edge of the roof. The road was a far way below him. A hot wind whipped around him. He slipped off his sandals and watched his toes dangle over the edge. Aiki took a deep breath and took a step forward. He felt weightless, as if he was floating. He looked down. The road was the exact same distance from him as it had been before. The wind was not rushing around him, he was suspended.

"It's never good to eavesdrop," Gaara said calmly. Aiki turned his head to see two wings made of sand flapping lazily on him back, keeping him aloft.

"They want me to leave, Papa," Aiki said sorrowfully. His nose stung and he immediately began to cry. "I won't be able to stand it if I have to go! This is my home! You are my family!"

Gaara smiled lightly and 'flew' his son back to the safety of the roof. "If you go, I won't be able to stand it either. Not like this, at least." He put the boy down. Aiki fell to the ground.

"What will we do?"

"I'm sending you to Konoha," he answered. Aiki looked up shocked and terrified but Gaara held up his hand to quiet him. "You will attend the academy there for a year then return here for a year. You'll alternate attendance. Hinata has agreed that she needs to monitor you in order to create a good medicine to control your chakra. Naruto has also agreed to help."

There was silence between them as the gravity of the situation sunk in. "A whole year?"

"It will go by quickly. Fumi will help you make new friends and before you know it you'll be missing them too."

Aiki stopped to consider things. "Papa, will I become stronger if I go?"

"Maybe?"

"Strong enough to protect what I love?"

"Definitely."

He finally stood on his own two legs and looked towards the horizon of the city. He held his hand up to the sun to block it rays. He closed his fist and smiled. "I'll do it."


End file.
